Voltage dependent anion channel (VDAC1) compositions and methods of use thereof for regulating apoptosis

ABSTRACT

The present invention relates generally to the mitochondrial protein, voltage-dependent anion channel (VDAC)5 polynucleotides encoding same and variants thereof, as well as peptide fragments, peptide derivatives and analogs. In particular, the present invention is directed to VDAC1 and specific amino acid and polynucleotide sequences thereof useful in inducing or regulating apoptosis and to pharmaceutical compositions comprising same useful in the treatment of diseases associated with aberrant apoptosis.

RELATED APPLICATION DATA

This application is the U.S. national stage of PCT/IL2006/000311 filed on Mar. 9, 2006, which is based on and claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application Nos. 60/736,291 filed on Nov. 15, 2005 and 60/659,876 filed on Mar. 10, 2005, the content each of which is expressly incorporated herein in its entirety by this reference.

INCORPORATION-BY-REFERENCE OF MATERIAL ELECTRONICALLY FILED

Incorporated by reference in its entirety herein is a computer-readable nucleotide/amino acid sequence listing submitted concurrently herewith and identified as follows: One 76,233 byte ASCII (text) file named “SeqList” created on Sep. 5, 2007.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates generally to the mitochondrial protein, voltage-dependent anion channel (VDAC), polynucleotides encoding same and variants thereof, as well as peptide fragments, peptide derivatives and analogs. In particular, the present invention is directed to VDAC1 and specific amino acid and polynucleotide sequences thereof useful in inducing or regulating apoptosis and to pharmaceutical compositions comprising same useful in the treatment of diseases associated with aberrant apoptosis.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

VDAC

Voltage-dependent anion channel (VDAC; mitochondrial porin) is a pore-forming protein found in the outer mitochondrial membrane in all eukaryotic cells controlling the fluxes of ions and metabolites between the mitochondria and the cytosol. VDAC is recognized as a key protein in mitochondria-mediated apoptosis due to its function in the release of apoptotic proteins located in the inter-membranal space and its interaction with apoptotic proteins. VDAC also serves as binding sites for several cytosolic enzymes and mitochondrial intermembranal space proteins, including hexokinase, creatine kinase and glycerol kinase.

Three mammalian isoforms of VDAC are known, VDAC1, VDAC2, VDAC3, where VDAC1 is the major isoform expressed in mammalian cells. Blachly-Dysion et al (1993) disclosed the cloning and functional expression in yeast of two human VDAC isoforms, VDAC1 and VDAC2. Human VDAC 1 was shown to specifically bind hexokinase. U.S. Pat. No. 5,780,235 discloses two novel VDAC sequences, which were named HACH (human voltage-dependent anion channel), subsequently identified as VDAC2 and VDAC3. That patent provides genetically engineered expression vectors, host cells containing the vector, a method for producing HACH and a method for identifying pharmaceutical compositions inhibiting the expression and activity of HACH and for the use of such compositions for the treatment of cancer and proliferative diseases.

Apoptosis

Apoptosis, also known as programmed cell death, plays a central role in, inter alia, development, immune cell regulation and tissue homeostasis in multicellular organisms. Genetic and molecular analysis from various species has indicated that the apoptotic pathway is highly conserved. In addition to being essential for normal development and maintenance, apoptosis is important in the defense against viral infection and in preventing cancer.

Mitochondria play an important role in the regulation of apoptotic cell death. The release of apoptogenic intermediates such as cytochrome c from the intermembranal space into the cytoplasm of a cell initiates a cascade of caspase activation that executes the cell death program. Substantial evidence links VDAC to apoptosis and suggests that VDAC is a critical player in the release of apoptogenic proteins from mitochondria in mammalian cells (Shoshan-Barmatz and Gincel, 2003).

Anti-Apoptotic and Pro-Apoptotic Proteins

Diverse intrinsic cell death signals emanating from various subcellular organelles can induce the release of cytochrome c from mitochondria. The Bcl-2 family of pro- and anti-apoptotic proteins constitutes a decisive control point for apoptosis. Proteins in the Bcl-2 family are major regulators of apoptosis (reviewed in Kim, 2005). Members of this family include both pro- and anti-apoptotic proteins and share homology in up to four conserved regions termed Bcl-2 homology (BH) 1-4 domains. The family can be divided into three main sub-classes: anti-apoptotic proteins, pro-apoptotic proteins and BH3-only proteins.

The anti-apoptotic proteins, which include hexokinase-I (HK-I), Bcl-2 and Bcl-xL, share homology throughout all four BH domains. The pro-apoptotic proteins can be further subdivided and include multidomain proteins, such as Bax and Bak, which possess sequence homology in BH1-3 domains.

The more distantly related BH3-only proteins appear to be only pro-apoptotic and share sequence homology within the BH3 region, which is required for their apoptotic function. The BH3-only proteins include, for example, BID, NOXA, PUMA and BAD.

It is currently held that anti-apoptotic members of the Bcl-2 family of proteins, such as HK-I, HK-II, Bcl-2 and Bcl-xL, act to promote cell survival by interacting with VDAC. Conversely, pro-apoptotic members of the Bcl-2 family of proteins, including Bak and Bax, may interact with VDAC to promote release of cytochrome c. Because of the pivotal role that mitochondria play in apoptotic cell death, mitochondrial proteins serve as potential targets for apoptosis regulating therapies.

One major obstacle in cancer chemotherapy is inherent, or acquired, resistance, apparently due to the suppression of apoptosis. Hexokinase-I (HK-I) is an anti-apoptotic mitochondrial protein that binds to VDAC. Many tumor cells exhibit a high glycolytic rate, which is correlated with a high level of HK-I expression. It is believed that the overexpression of anti-apoptotic proteins such as HK-I in cancer cells is a self-defense mechanism of those cells and is related to the cell's resistance to chemotherapy. It would be useful to develop agents that overcome apoptosis suppression in cancer cells, including HK-I suppression.

Certain compositions related to VDAC and use thereof for either inhibiting or inducing apoptosis are known in the art. US Patent Application Publication No. 2005/0085420 discloses methods of inhibiting apoptosis by promoting formation of a BAK/VDAC2 complex, and methods of promoting apoptosis by disrupting formation of a BAK/VDAC2 complex. The VDAC2/BAK inhibitor compound is, for example, a BH3 domain peptide, a BH3 domain-only mutein, an anti-VDAC2 antibody, a VDAC2 mutein and the like.

US Patent Application Publication No. 2005/0234116 discloses small molecule compounds with utility as VDAC regulators, in particular as apoptosis suppressors.

There remains an unmet need for therapeutic agents effective in regulating apoptosis and specifically in inducing apoptosis in hyperproliferative disease and inhibiting apoptosis in neurodegenerative, cardiac and ophthalmic diseases. The art neither teaches nor suggests inducing apoptosis by expression of exogenous VDAC1 or the modulation of VDAC1 interaction with its associated proteins using VDAC1 derived peptides.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention provides, for the first time, VDAC1 molecules including polypeptide variants, peptide fragments thereof and derivatives, analogs and salts thereof, their nucleotide sequences, compositions comprising same and methods useful in treating diseases and disorders associated with aberrant apoptosis.

Unexpectedly, it is now shown that expression of exogenous VDAC1 amino acid sequence modulates apoptosis. Suitable sequences include VDAC1 polypeptide, polypeptide variant or an isolated peptide, or derivative or analog thereof, comprising an amino acid sequence derived from the mitochondrial VDAC1 protein modulates apoptosis. Specifically, the ectopic or exogenous expression of a VDAC1 amino acid sequence causes a dramatic increase in apoptosis of human cancer cell lines and in chemo and radio-resistant cancer cells.

The present invention is based in part on the discoveries that (a) overexpression of VDAC1 polypeptide or VDAC1 polypeptide variant triggers apoptosis in cancer cell lines; (b) HK-I, an anti-apoptosis protein, protects cells against apoptosis via its interaction with VDAC1; and (c) an amino acid substitution in the cytosolic β-loop domains of VDAC1 eliminates HK-I or ruthenium red (RuR) protection against staurosporine-, curcumin-, As₂O₃- or VDAC1 overexpression-induced apoptosis.

Accordingly, the present invention provides VDAC1 amino acid sequences, pharmaceutical compositions comprising same and methods of use thereof. In particular, the present invention provides a VDAC1 molecule selected from a VDAC1 polypeptide variant, and a VDAC1 peptide, derivative, analog or salt thereof useful for inducing apoptotic cell death in cancer cells and in particular, in chemo- and radiotherapy-resistant cells.

The principles of the present invention are exemplified in both in vitro and in vivo model systems of diseases associated with aberrant apoptosis. In various embodiments VDAC1 is selected from the group consisting of a rat VDAC1 isoform, a mouse VDAC1 isoform, a yeast VDAC1 isoform, a plant VDAC1 and a human VDAC1 isoform.

According to a first aspect, the present invention provides a VDAC1 molecule capable of modulating apoptosis in a cell, the molecule selected from: (i) an isolated VDAC1 polypeptide variant having at least one amino acid substitution in an amino acid residue residing in a VDAC1 cytosolic domain and (ii) an isolated VDAC1 peptide fragment, analog, chemical derivative and a salt thereof, wherein the peptide fragment, analog, chemical derivative and a salt thereof is derived from a VDAC1 cytosolic domain or partial sequence thereof.

In some embodiments the molecule induces apoptosis or enhances sensitivity to an apoptosis-inducing reagent. Non-limiting examples of apoptosis-inducing reagents include STS, curcumin, doxorubicin and Taxol®.

In one embodiment the VDAC1 molecule is a peptide fragment comprising an amino acid sequence of a VDAC1 cytosolic domain or a partial sequence thereof.

The VDAC1 cytosolic domains include the N-terminus (amino acids M1 to about D9) and three β-loops, β-loop 1 (from amino acid W63 to about D78) β-loop 2 (from amino acid S100 to about R119), β-loop 4 (from amino acid G186 to about I226). The β-loop 3 is exposed to the intermembrane space (from amino acid E157 to about T174).

A peptide fragment derived from a cytosolic domain may include the amino acid sequence of the entire cytosolic domain or a partial sequence thereof. The peptide fragment derived from a cytosolic domain may comprise up to about 30 consecutive amino acids, up to about 25 amino acids, up to about 20 amino acids, or up to about 10 amino acid residues.

In one embodiment the VDAC1 peptide fragment comprises an amino acid sequence that modulates the interaction between VDAC1 and a mitochondrial anti-apoptotic protein. Certain mitochondrial anti-apoptotic proteins are known in the art and include hexokinase-I (HK-I), HK-II, Bcl2, Bcl2A1, Bcl2L1, Bcl2L10, Bcl2L11, Bcl2L2, Bcl-xL and Bcl-W.

In one embodiment the VDAC1 peptide of the invention comprises a VDAC1 amino acid sequence up to about 70 amino acid residues. In some embodiment the VDAC1 peptide comprises an amino acid sequence up to about 60 amino acid residues, up to about 40 amino acid residues, up to about 30 amino acid residues, and preferably from about 15 to about 30 amino acid residues.

In some embodiments the VDAC1 peptide is selected from the group of peptides having amino acid sequence as set forth in SEQ ID NO:1, SEQ ID NO:2, SEQ ID NO:3, and SEQ ID NO:5. In certain embodiments the VDAC1 peptide comprises an amino acid sequence as set forth in SEQ ID NO. 2.

In some embodiments the peptide of the invention is linked to a cell penetrating peptide (CPP). In one exemplary embodiment the CPP is an amino acid sequence comprising the Drosophila antennapedia (ANTP) domain or a fragment thereof. In certain embodiments the VDAC peptides further comprise an ANTP amino acid sequence as set forth in SEQ ID NO:39. In one embodiment the VDAC peptide further comprises tryptophan zipper amino acid sequences and a fragment of the ANTP amino acid domain. In some embodiments the peptide is selected from the group of peptides having amino acid sequence as set forth in SEQ ID NO:11, SEQ ID NO:12, SEQ ID NO:13 and SEQ ID NO:15. In one embodiment the peptide comprises an amino acid sequence as set forth in SEQ ID NO:12.

In other embodiments the peptide is selected from a VDAC1 peptide derivative and VDAC1 peptide analog. In one embodiment the VDAC1 peptide derivative is an amidated VDAC1 peptide.

In certain embodiments the VDAC1 molecule is selected from a VDAC1 polypeptide variant having at least one amino acid substitution in an amino acid residue residing in a VDAC1 protein domain exposed to the cytosol. The cytosolic domains of VDAC1 have been identified as the N-terminus, first, second and fourth β-loop domains of VDAC1. In one embodiment the amino acid substitution replaces a charged amino acid selected from aspartate (D), glutamate (E) and lysine (K) with a non-charged amino acid. In one embodiment the VDAC1 polypeptide variant is selected from any one of SEQ ID NO:43-SEQ ID NO:48. The VDAC1 polypeptide variant may comprise further structural changes including additional amino acid substations, amino acid deletions and additions. Accordingly the present invention provides a polypeptide variant having about 80%, about 90% about 95%, about 98% or about 99% homology to any one of SEQ ID NO:43-SEQ ID NO:48.

In another aspect, the present invention provides isolated nucleotide sequences encoding a VDAC1 polypeptide variant or peptide capable of modulating apoptosis in a cell. In one embodiment a nucleotide sequence is selected from the group consisting of the sequences set forth in any one of SEQ ID NO:6-SEQ ID NO:8, SEQ ID NO:10, SEQ ID NO:16-SEQ ID NO:18 or SEQ ID NO:20.

In another aspect the present invention provides a polynucleotide construct comprising a nucleic acid sequence encoding a VDAC1 polypeptide variant or peptide derivative, analog or salt thereof capable of modulating apoptosis in a cell. In one embodiment the VDAC1 polypeptide variant or peptide induces apoptosis. In some embodiments the construct comprises a nucleotide sequence selected from the group consisting of sequences set forth in any one of SEQ ID NO:6-SEQ ID NO:8, SEQ ID NO:10, SEQ ID NO:16-SEQ ID NO:18 or SEQ ID NO:20.

In some embodiments the polynucleotide construct is an expression vector.

Further provided is a host cell comprising a polynucleotide construct comprising a nucleotide sequence encoding a VDAC1 polypeptide variant or peptide, derivative, analog or salt thereof capable of modulating apoptosis in a cell. In one embodiment the VDAC1 polypeptide variant or peptide, derivative, analog or salt thereof can induce apoptosis.

According to another aspect the present invention provides a pharmaceutical composition comprising a VDAC1 sequence. In one embodiment the VDAC1 sequence is an amino acid sequence selected from the group consisting of a VDAC1 polypeptide, a VDAC1 polypeptide variant, a VDAC1 peptide, derivative, analog or salt thereof and a pharmaceutically acceptable diluent or excipient. In some embodiments VDAC1 is human VDAC1. In one embodiment, the pharmaceutical composition comprises a VDAC1 peptide comprising amino acid sequence as set forth in anyone of SEQ ID NO:1-SEQ ID NO:3, SEQ ID NO:5, SEQ ID NO:11-SEQ ID NO:14 and SEQ ID NO:15. In certain embodiments the VDAC1 peptide is selected from the group consisting of a peptide comprising an amino acid sequence set forth in any one of SEQ ID NO:2 and SEQ ID NO:12, encoded by a nucleotide set forth in SEQ ID NO:7 and SEQ ID NO:17, respectively.

In one embodiment the pharmaceutical composition of the invention provides a VDAC1 amino acid sequence selected from a VDAC1 polypeptide or VDAC1 polypeptide variant. In one embodiment the polypeptide is selected from SEQ ID NO:21, SEQ ID NO:24 and SEQ ID NO:27. In one preferred embodiment the polypeptide has SEQ ID NO:21. In one embodiment the VDAC1 polypeptide variant comprises at least one amino acid substitution within a cytosolic β-loop domain of VDAC1. In one embodiment the VDAC1 polypeptide variant comprises an amino acid substitution of a charged amino acid residue. In one embodiment the VDAC1 polypeptide variant is selected from any one of SEQ ID NO:43-SEQ ID NO:48.

In one embodiment the present invention further provides a pharmaceutical composition comprising an isolated nucleic acid sequence encoding a VDAC1 polypeptide, VDAC1 polypeptide variant or a VDAC1 peptide of the invention. In one embodiment the nucleic acid has a sequence selected from SEQ ID NO:6-SEQ ID NO:8, SEQ ID NO:10, SEQ ID NO:16-SEQ ID NO:18, SEQ ID NO:20, SEQ ID NO:30, SEQ ID NO:33, SEQ ID NO:36 and SEQ ID NO:51-58. The present invention further encompasses polynucleotide constructs comprising the nucleic acid sequences according to the invention and host cells comprising said constructs.

The present invention further provides a pharmaceutical composition comprising a polynucleotide construct comprising an isolated nucleic acid sequence selected from any one of SEQ ID NO:6-SEQ ID NO:8, SEQ ID NO:10, SEQ ID NO:16-SEQ ID NO:18, SEQ ID NO:20, SEQ ID NO:30-36 and SEQ ID NO:51-56. In some embodiments the polynucleotide construct comprises an expression vector. In exemplary embodiments the pharmaceutical composition comprises a polynucleotide construct comprising a nucleotide sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NO:7, SEQ ID NO:17, SEQ ID NO:30 and SEQ ID NO:50.

In certain embodiments the pharmaceutical composition comprises a VDAC1 amino acid sequence according to the present invention and a shielding particle. In certain embodiments the shielding particle comprises PEI, PEG and lipids.

In certain embodiments the pharmaceutical composition comprises an encapsulated VDAC1 amino acid sequence according to the present invention. In certain embodiments the VDAC1 amino acid sequence is encapsulated into a vesicle, or into immunoliposomes.

In yet another aspect the present invention provides a method for treating a disease associated with aberrant apoptosis, the method comprising administering to a subject in need thereof a composition comprising a therapeutically effective amount of an agent selected from the group consisting of a) a VDAC1 polypeptide, b) a VDAC1 polypeptide variant, c) at least one VDAC1 peptide, a derivative or analog of thereof and d) a VDAC1 nucleic acid encoding a VDAC1 polypeptide, VDAC1 polypeptide variant or a VDAC1 peptide. In some embodiments the disease is selected from cancer including chemo- and radiotherapy-resistant cancer.

In yet another aspect the present invention provides a method for inducing apoptosis in a cell or enhancing the effect of an apoptosis-inducing reagent in a cell comprising the step of upregulating VDAC1 expression in the cell under conditions sufficient to induce apoptosis of the cell.

In one embodiment upregulating VDAC1 expression comprises the step of providing an exogenous VDAC1 molecule to the cell under conditions sufficient for said VDAC1 amino acid sequence to induce apoptosis of the cell. In some embodiments the VDAC1 molecule is selected from a VDAC1 polypeptide, a VDAC1 polypeptide variant and a VDAC1 peptide, derivative analog or salt thereof according to the principles of the present invention. In other embodiments VDAC1 molecule is selected from a VDAC1 nucleotide sequence according to the principles of the present invention.

Further embodiments and the full scope of applicability of the present invention will become apparent from the detailed description given hereinafter. However, it should be understood that the detailed description and specific examples, while indicating preferred embodiments of the invention, are given by way of illustration only, since various changes and modifications within the spirit and scope of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from this detailed description.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

FIG. 1A shows that the interaction between HK-I and the mitochondrial VDAC1 reconstituted into a planar lipid bilayer induced decrease in the channel conductance. FIG. 1B shows SDS-PAGE of purified VDAC1 and HK-I. FIG. 1C shows inhibition of cytochrome c release by HK-I.

FIGS. 2A-2D shows the effects of HK-I on the permeability transition pore (PTP) opening, as monitored by Ca2+ accumulation (FIG. 2A) and swelling of energized mitochondria (FIG. 2C-2D). HK-I inhibited PTP opening and this inhibition was prevented by an antibody specific to the N-terminal of HK-I (FIG. 2C). The failure of non-binding species of HK, such as yeast HK, or chymotrypsin-treated HK-I (FIG. 2D) to prevent PTP opening, confirmed the specificity of the HK-I effect, and of the requirement of the HK-I N-terminal region for its interaction with VDAC.

FIG. 3A shows leukemic U937 cells that were transformed to express green fluorescent protein (GFP) and VDAC1-GFP. FIG. 3B shows an immunoblot using anti-VDAC or anti-GFP antibodies of extracts from cell transfected with VDAC1, VDAC1-GFP, mutated E72QVDAC1 or mutated E72QVDAC1-GFP. FIGS. 3C-3D show that over-expression of recombinant HK-I protects against apoptotic cell death induced by over-expression of native, but not of E72Q or E202Q VDAC1 variants. FIG. 3E shows the results of experiments confirming that overexpression of recombinant HK-I protects cells from apoptosis induced by staurosporine (STS).

FIGS. 4A and 4B show that over-expression of recombinant HK-I protects against apoptotic cell death induced by over-expression of native and some, but not in all mutated versions of VDAC1.

FIG. 5A shows that RuR protects against apoptotic cell death induced by over-expression of native, but not of certain VDAC1 polypeptide variants. FIGS. 5B and 5C show the protective effect of RuR against apoptosis induced by exogenous expression of native and some VDAC1 variants but not of E72Q- or E65Q-VDAC1 variants. FIG. 5D shows that RuR increases the total amount of VDAC1 protein in cells expressing native mVDAC1, but not in cells expressing E72Q-mVDAC1. FIG. 5E shows that RuR inhibited recombinant native mVDAC1 channel activity and stabilized the channel in an almost completely closed state. In contrast, the channel activity of E72Q-mVDAC1 was not inhibited by RuR.

FIG. 6 is a model illustrating the proposed VDAC1 transmembrane topology and potential cytosolic, transmembrane and intermembranal domains, where the peptides and mutations are labeled.

FIG. 7 is a schematic illustration of a peptide comprising amino acid sequences derived from the cytosolic β-loop 1 domain (LP1) peptide (SEQ ID NO:2) comprising the tryptophan zipper sequences (SEQ ID NOS:41 and 42) and an antennapedia homeodomain (SEQ ID NO:39).

FIG. 8 shows the alignment of the polypeptide sequences of the human, mouse and rat VDAC1 (FIG. 8A), VDAC2 (FIG. 8B) and VDAC3 (FIG. 8C) isoforms and an alignment of two cytosolic β-loop domains from those sequences (FIG. 8D). It should be noted that the according to the numbering in this figure, the amino acid count includes the first methionine, therefore E72 is presented as E73, etc.

FIG. 9 is a graph depicting the LP1 peptide (SEQ ID NO:2) induced detachment of brain mitochondrial bound HK-I.

FIG. 10 are graphs showing that LP1 peptide eliminates the HK-I inhibition of the permeability transition pore (PTP) opening. FIG. 10A: effect of LP1; FIG. 10B: effect of HK-I pre-incubated for 10 min with LP1.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to VDAC1 polypeptides, peptides, derivatives and analogs thereof, compositions comprising same and methods useful for modulating apoptotic cell death in diseases associated with aberrant apoptosis.

In one embodiment there is provided a peptide useful for the treatment of proliferative disease, including cancer and in particular for the stimulation of apoptosis, in cancer cells and other diseases exhibiting aberrant apoptosis. In particular the invention relates to VDAC1 specific amino acid sequences useful in inducing apoptosis. The VDAC1 peptides can induce apoptosis in primary cancers as well as in resistant cells and improve the efficacy of chemotherapeutic drugs.

Without wishing to be bound to theory the VDAC1-based peptides are designed to minimize the self-defense mechanisms in cancer cells, which involves over-expression of anti-apoptotic proteins. The present invention takes advantage of the central role that mitochondria and VDAC1, as the gatekeeper, play in apoptosis to generate potent, specific and effective VDAC1-based cancer therapies that diminish the activities of pro-survival proteins, promote apoptosis and increase chemotherapy effectiveness. Anti-apoptotic proteins are expressed in the majority of tumors, therefore the VDAC1 peptides are active in tumors regardless of the signaling pathway that controls apoptosis in the different tumor types.

DEFINITIONS

For convenience certain terms employed in the specification, examples and claims are described herein.

The term “VDAC1” as used herein and in the claims refers to the VDAC1 isoform of a highly conserved family of mitochondrial porin and the corresponding polynucleotides. Four VDAC isoforms, encoded by three genes, are known to date.

The term “VDAC1 cytosolic domains” refers to amino acid sequences that are exposed to the cytosol, as opposed to those exposed to the intermembranal space embedded within the membrane. The cytosolic domains include the VDAC1 N-terminal amino acids M1-D9, β-loop 1 amino acids T64-D78, β-loop 2 amino acids S103-R119, and β-loop 4 amino acids G186-I226. A peptide derived from a cytosolic domain may include the amino acid sequence of the entire cytosolic domain or a fragment thereof. The peptide fragment derived from a cytosolic domain may comprise up to about 25 consecutive amino acids, up to about 20 amino acids, or up to about 15 amino acids. In some embodiments the exemplary peptide sequences are set forth in SEQ ID NOs:1-3 and SEQ ID NO:5.

As used herein the term “apoptosis” or “apoptotic cell death” refers to programmed cell death which can be characterized by cell shrinkage, membrane blebbing and chromatin condensation culminating in cell fragmentation. Cells undergoing apoptosis also display a characteristic pattern of DNA cleavage. Alternatively, apoptosis can be characterized indirectly by changes in the activity or expression of members of the apoptotic pathway, e.g. increased mitochondrial release of cytochrome c. A non-limiting example of apoptosis-inducing reagents includes actinomycin D, antibiotic A-23187, b-lapachone, Camptothecin, ceramide, curcumin, dexamethasone, etoposide (Etopophos®, Vepesid®), Hypericin, prostaglandin A2, S-Nitrosoglutathione, staurosporin, sulindac sulfide, sulindac sulfone, Taxol®, vinblastine sulfate, vincristine sulfate, 15(S)-HPETE, 4-hydroxyphenyl retinamide, betulinic acid and the like.

As used herein, the term “modulates apoptosis” includes either upregulation or downregulation of apoptosis in a cell. Furthermore modulation of apoptosis includes enhancement of apoptosis in a cell that has previously received a signal that induces apoptosis, e.g., the cell has been subjected to a signal or chemical that induces apoptosis. Modulation of apoptosis is discussed in more detail below and can be useful in ameliorating various disorders, e.g., cancer and viral diseases.

The term “expression vector” and “recombinant expression vector” as used herein refers to a DNA molecule containing a desired coding sequence and appropriate nucleic acid sequences necessary for the expression of the operably linked coding sequence in a particular host organism. The expression vector may comprise sequences encoding heterologous domains including but not limited to protein detection, purification or cleavage sequences that may be fused at the N- or C-terminus to the desired coding sequence, to yield a fusion protein. It is contemplated that the present invention encompasses expression vectors that are integrated into host cell genomes, as well as vectors that remain unintegrated into the host genome.

Any vector selected can be constructed such that it is capable of being transferred into the cells of interest either with or without VDAC1 amino acid sequence. Methods for manipulating the vector nucleic acid are well known in the art and include for example direct cloning and site-specific recombination using recombinases. In this manner, an expression vector can be constructed such that it can be replicated in any desired cell, expressed in any desired cell, and can even become integrated into the genome of any desired cell.

The term “expression product” is used herein to denote a VDAC1 amino acid sequence. A VDAC1 expression product is preferably a translation product, or a fragment of translation product from any one or more of the VDAC1 polypeptides, polypeptide variants or peptides.

The term “exogenous” is used herein refers to a VDAC1 amino acid sequence which is introduced into a cell. For example, “exogenous VDAC1 amino acid sequence” should be construed to include a VDAC1 amino acid sequence expressed from a nucleic acid, which has been introduced into a cell using recombinant technology, a VDAC1 amino acid sequence that is added to a cell and any and all combinations thereof. Therefore, the term should not be construed to be limited solely to the addition of VDAC1 amino acid sequence to a cell per se, but should be expanded to include the expression of VDAC1 amino acid sequence in a cell when the VDAC1 amino acid sequence is expressed from a nucleic acid, which has been introduced into the cell.

The protein sequences of the human, mouse and rat VDAC isoforms are provided in the sequence listing herein below.

Human VDAC1 set forth in SEQ ID NO:21, (NP_(—)003365) is a 283 amino acid protein. The numbering of the VDAC1 mutation begins at the alanine following the first methionine; Human VDAC2 set forth in SEQ ID NO:22 (NP_(—)003366) is a 294 amino acid protein; Human VDAC3 set forth in SEQ ID NO:23 (NP_(—)005653) is a 283 amino acid protein.

Mouse VDAC1 is set forth in SEQ ID NO:24 (NP_(—)035824); Mouse VDAC2 is set forth in SEQ ID NO:25 (NP_(—)035825); Mouse VDAC3 is set forth in SEQ ID NO:26 (NP_(—)035826).

Rat VDAC1 is set forth in SEQ ID NO:27 (NP_(—)112643); Rat VDAC2 is set forth in SEQ ID NO:28 (NP_(—)112644); Rat VDAC3 is set forth in SEQ ID NO:29 (NP_(—)112645).

Alignment of the human amino acid sequences is shown in FIGS. 8A-C. The corresponding polynucleotide sequences are set forth in SEQ ID NO:30-SEQ ID NO:38. The polynucleotide sequences of Human VDAC1, VDAC2 and VDAC3 having accession numbers NM_(—)003374, NM_(—)003375 and NM_(—)005662 are set forth in SEQ ID NO:30-SEQ ID NO:32, respectively. The polynucleotide sequences of mouse VDAC1, VDAC2 and VDAC3 having accession numbers NM_(—)011694, NM_(—)411695 and NM_(—)011696 are set forth in SEQ ID NO:33-SEQ ID NO:35, respectively. The polynucleotide sequences of rat VDAC1, VDAC2 and VDAC3 having accession numbers NM_(—)031353, NM_(—)031354 and NM_(—)031355 are set forth in SEQ ID NO:36-SEQ ID NO:38, respectively.

Throughout the specification and the claims that follow, the terms “VDAC1 polypeptide”, “VDAC1 peptide”, “VDAC1” peptidomimetic” “VDAC1 peptide analog” and the like refers to molecules having a sequence which is a VDAC1 amino acid or a variant thereof, or a sequence derived from the VDAC1 family of proteins. Within the context of the present invention, a VDAC1 amino acid sequence can be or comprise one or more amino acid residue insertions, deletions, or substitutions. Preferably, any substitution is conservative in that it minimally disrupts the biochemical properties of the VDAC1 amino acid sequence polypeptide. Given the properties of the subject amino acids comprising the disclosed protein products, some rational substitutions will be recognized by the skilled worker. Amino acid substitutions, i.e. “conservative substitutions,” may be made, for instance, on the basis of similarity in polarity, charge, solubility, hydrophobicity, hydrophilicity, and/or the amphipathic nature of the residues involved. Additionally, all or a part of the amino acids may be substituted with the D isoform of amino acids.

The VDAC1 polypeptide variants according to the invention comprise a native VDAC1 polypeptide sequence having an amino acid substitution in one or more of the cytosolic domains. The cytosolic, transmembrane and intermembrane domains of VDAC1 are schematically shown in FIG. 6 (modified from Colombini, 2004).

The present invention also provides pharmaceutical formulations, both for veterinary and for human medical use, which comprise as the active agent one or more of the VDAC1 polypeptide, VDAC1 polypeptide variants, VDAC1 peptides, derivatives, analogs or salts thereof or a polynucleotide thereof described in the invention, for the manufacture of a medicament for the treatment or prophylaxis of the conditions variously described herein.

Polypeptides, Peptides, Peptide Derivatives and Peptide Analogs

Expression of exogenous VDAC1 protein and variants thereof in human cancer cell lines was shown to cause a dramatic increase in apoptosis in those cells. These results demonstrate that modulation of VDAC1 levels, either directly or indirectly, can be used to modulate apoptosis.

An “amino acid sequence”, as used herein, refers to an oligopeptide, peptide, or polypeptide sequence, and fragments thereof, and to naturally occurring, recombinant or synthetic molecules. The term “polypeptide” refers to any chain of amino acids, regardless of length or post-translational modification (for example, glycosylation or phosphorylation).

The term “variant” as used herein refers to a polypeptide sequence that possesses some modified sequence of the wild type or parent protein. For example, the variant may have amino acids deleted, inserted or substituted.

The peptides, derivatives analogs and salts thereof comprise a VDAC1 amino acid sequence of up to about 70 amino acid residues, up to about 60 amino acid residues, up to about 40 amino acid residues, preferably from about 15 to about 30 amino acid residues in length.

The terms “peptide” or “peptide fragment” as used herein are meant to encompass natural, non-natural and/or chemically modified amino acid residues connected one to the other by peptide or non-peptide bonds. Therefore the term “peptide” includes a fragment, analog, derivative or a salt thereof. The amino acid residues are represented throughout the specification and claims by either one or three-letter codes, as is commonly known in the art. The compounds of the invention include linear and cyclic peptides and derivatives and analogs thereof.

The terms “analog” and “derivative” refer to a peptide comprising at least one altered amino acid residue by an amino acid substitution, addition, deletion, or chemical modification, as compared with the native peptide. Peptide analogs particularly include amino acid substitutions and/or additions with non-natural amino acid residues, and chemical modifications, which do not occur in nature. Peptide analogs include peptide variants and peptide mimetics. A peptide mimetic or “peptidomimetic” is a molecule that mimics the biological activity of a peptide but is not completely peptidic in nature. Whether completely or partially non-peptide, peptidomimetics according to this invention provide a spatial arrangement of chemical moieties that closely resembles the three-dimensional arrangement of groups in the peptide on which the peptidomimetic is based. As a result of this similar active-site geometry, the peptidomimetic has effects on biological systems, which are similar to the biological activity of the peptide.

Peptide derivatives particularly include amino acid substitutions and/or additions with naturally occurring amino acid residues, and chemical modifications such as, for example, enzymatic modifications, typically present in nature. Accordingly, the present invention encompasses both peptide derivatives and analogs of the VDAC peptides as set forth in SEQ ID NO:1-SEQ ID NO:3, SEQ ID NO:5, SEQ ID NO:11-SEQ ID NO:13 and SEQ ID NO:15.

The present invention encompasses VDAC peptide derivatives or analogs of which at least one amino acid has been chemically modified. Chemical modifications of amino acid residues include, but are not limited to, amidation, methylation, acetylation, glycosylation, oxidation, reduction, myristylation, sulfation, acylation, ADP-ribosylation, cyclization, hydroxylation, iodination, derivatization by protecting/blocking groups, or any other derivatization method known in the art. Such alterations, which do not destroy, but may improve the VDAC peptide biological activity, can occur anywhere along the sequence of the VDAC peptide, including at the peptide backbone, the amino acid side-chains, and at the amino or carboxyl termini.

By using “amino acid substitution”, it is meant that an amino acid residue is substituted for a residue within the sequence resulting in a functionally equivalent or in a functionally different variant. The term “functionally equivalent” means, for example, a group of amino acids having similar polarity, similar charge, or similar hydrophobicity. For example, one or more amino acid residues within the sequence can be substituted by another amino acid of a similar polarity, which acts as a functional equivalent, resulting in a silent alteration. Substitutes for an amino acid within the sequence can be selected from other members of the class to which the amino acid belongs. For example, the non-polar (hydrophobic) amino acids include alanine, leucine, isoleucine, valine, proline, phenylalanine, tryptophan and methionine. The polar neutral amino acids include glycine, serine, threonine, cysteine, tyrosine, asparagine, and glutamine. The positively charged (basic) amino acids include arginine, lysine and histidine. The negatively charged (acidic) amino acids include aspartic acid and glutamic acid (aspartate and glutamate). Such substitutions are known as conservative substitutions.

Additionally, a non-conservative substitution can be made in an amino acid that does not contribute to the biological activity of the peptide. Such non-conservative substitutions are also encompassed within the term “amino acid substitution”, as used herein. It will be appreciated that the present invention further encompasses VDAC1 peptide derivatives or analogs, wherein at least one amino acid is substituted by another natural or non-natural amino acid to produce a peptide derivative or analog having increased stability or higher half life as compared to the native VDAC1 peptide fragment.

The present invention encompasses peptide hydrates and includes, but is not limited to, hemihydrate, monohydrate, dihydrate, trihydrate, and the like.

One aspect of the present invention provides a VDAC peptide further comprising a moiety that facilitates cell penetration. In one embodiment the moiety is a cell penetrating peptide (CPP). CPP's are typically amphipathic or cationic oligopeptides able to transport attached cargoes across cell membranes. In one embodiment the CPP comprises a fragment of the Drosophila antennapedia homeodomain (ANTP), comprising an amino acid sequence as set forth in SEQ ID NO: 39.

SEQ ID NO:39: 5′ MRQIKIWFQNRRMKWKK which is encoded by a nucleotide set forth in SEQ ID NO: 40 5′ ATG CGT CAG ATT AAA ATT TGG TTT CAG AAT CGT CGT ATG AAA TGG AAA AAA.

The peptide or polypeptide of the invention can further comprise a tryptophan zipper pentamer or other sequence to further stabilize the peptide (Cochran, 2001). The amino acid sequences of the tryptophan zipper pentamer are set forth in SEQ ID NO: 41 and SEQ ID NO:42. SEQ ID NO:41: SWTWE and SEQ ID NO:42: KWTWK.

One aspect of the present invention provides for a peptide analog such as a peptidomimetic, which mimics the structural features of the critical minimal epitope.

There are clear advantages for using a mimetic of a given peptide rather than the peptide itself, since peptide drugs often exhibit two undesirable properties: poor bioavailability and short duration of action. Peptide mimetics offer a route around these two major obstacles; since the molecules concerned have a long duration of action. Furthermore there are problems associated with stability, storage and immunoreactivity for peptides that are not experienced with peptide mimetics.

The design of the peptidomimetics may be based on the three-dimensional structure of VDAC alone with or in complex with another protein. Interaction with the peptidomimetic can either induce an interacting protein to carry out the normal function caused by such binding (agonist) or disrupts such function (antagonist, inhibitor).

A primary goal in the design of peptide mimetics has been to reduce the susceptibility of mimics to cleavage and inactivation by peptidases. In one approach, one or more amide bonds have been replaced in an essentially isosteric manner by a variety of chemical functional groups. In another approach, a variety of uncoded or modified amino acids such as D-amino acids and N-methyl amino acids have been used to modify mammalian peptides. Alternatively, a presumed bioactive conformation has been stabilized by a covalent modification, such as cyclization or by incorporation of γ-lactam or other types of bridges as disclosed for example in U.S. Pat. No. 5,811,392. In U.S. Pat. No. 5,552,534, non-peptide compounds are disclosed which mimic or inhibit the chemical and/or biological activity of a variety of peptides. Such compounds can be produced by appending to certain core species, such as the tetrahydropyranyl ring, chemical functional groups, which cause the compounds to be at least partially cross-reactive with the peptide. As will be recognized, compounds which mimic or inhibit peptides are to varying degrees cross-reactive therewith. Other techniques for preparing peptidomimetics are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,550,251 and 5,288,707, for example. Non-limiting examples of the use of peptidomimetics in the art include inhibitors of protein isoprenyl transferases (particularly protein farnesyltransferase and geranylgeranyltransferase) and anti-cancer drugs (U.S. Pat. No. 5,965,539) inhibitors of p21 ras (U.S. Pat. No. 5,910,478) and inhibitors of neurotropin activity (U.S. Pat. No. 6,291,247).

Whenever VDAC1 peptide fragments are mentioned in the invention, also salts and functional derivatives thereof are contemplated, as long as they are able to induce apoptosis of a target cell. Thus, the present invention encompasses peptides containing non-natural amino acid derivatives or non-protein side chains.

The term “derivative” includes any chemical derivative of the peptide fragments of the invention having one or more residues chemically derivatized by reaction of side chains or functional groups. Such derivatized molecules include, for example, those molecules in which free amino groups have been derivatized to form amine hydrochlorides, p-toluene sulfonyl groups, carbobenzoxy groups, t-butyloxycarbonyl groups, chloroacetyl groups or formyl groups. For example, free carboxyl groups may be derivatized to form salts, methyl and ethyl esters or other types of esters or hydrazides; free hydroxyl groups may be derivatized to form O-acyl or O-alkyl derivatives; the imidazole nitrogen of histidine may be derivatized to form N-im-benzylhistidine. The C-terminus of the peptide of the invention may be presented in the free carboxy form or, preferably, it is amidated to facilitate the synthesis and increase the stability of the peptide, for example to increase the resistance of the peptides to enzymatic cleavage in the organism, or modified in a way that increases its solubility.

Also included as chemical derivatives are those peptides, which contain one or more naturally occurring amino acid derivatives of the twenty standard amino acid residues. For example: 4-hydroxyproline may be substituted for proline; 5-hydroxylysine may be substituted for lysine; 3-methylhistidine may be substituted for histidine; homoserine may be substituted for serine; and ornithine may be substituted for lysine.

In addition, a VDAC peptide can differ from the natural sequence of the peptides of the invention by chemical modifications including, but are not limited to, terminal-NH₂ acylation, acetylation, or thioglycolic acid amidation, and by terminal-carboxlyamidation, e.g., with ammonia, methylamine, and the like. Peptides can be linear, cyclic or branched and the like, which conformations can be achieved using methods well known in the art.

Addition of amino acid residues may be performed at either terminus of the polypeptides or peptides of the invention for the purpose of providing a “linker” by which the peptides of this invention can be conveniently bound to a carrier. Such linkers are usually of at least one amino acid residue and can be of 40 or more residues, more often of 1 to 10 residues. Typical amino acid residues used for linking are tyrosine, cysteine, lysine, glutamic and aspartic acid, or the like.

Peptide Synthesis

The peptides, peptide derivatives and peptide analogs of the invention may be synthesized using any recombinant or synthetic method known in the art, including, but not limited to, solid phase (e.g. Boc or f-Moc chemistry) and solution phase synthesis methods. For solid phase peptide synthesis, a summary of the many techniques may be found in Stewart and Young, 1963; and Meienhofer, 1973. For a review of classical solution synthesis, see Schroder and Lupke, 1965.

The amino acid residues described herein are preferred to be in the “L” isomeric form. However, residues in the “D” isomeric form can be substituted for any L-amino acid residue, as long as the peptide substantially retains the desired functional property. Use of “D” amino acids may be used as is known in the art to increase the stability or half-life of the resultant peptide.

Nucleic Acids

In another aspect, the invention provides nucleic acid molecules encoding the native or mutated VDAC1 polypeptide or peptides of the invention.

The nucleic acid molecules may include DNA, RNA, or derivatives of either DNA or RNA. An isolated nucleic acid sequence encoding a peptide can be obtained from its natural source, for example as a portion of a gene. A nucleic acid molecule can also be produced using recombinant DNA technology (e.g., polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplification, cloning) or chemical synthesis. Nucleic acid sequences include natural nucleic acid sequences and homologs thereof, comprising, but not limited to, natural allelic variants and modified nucleic acid sequences in which nucleotides have been inserted, deleted, substituted, and/or inverted in such a manner that such modifications do not substantially interfere with the nucleic acid molecule's ability to encode a functional peptide of the present invention.

A nucleic acid molecule homolog can be produced using a number of methods known to those skilled in the art (see, for example, Sambrook et al., 1989). For example, nucleic acid molecules can be modified using a variety of techniques including, but not limited to, classic mutagenesis techniques and recombinant DNA techniques, such as site-directed mutagenesis, chemical treatment of a nucleic acid molecule to induce mutations, restriction enzyme cleavage of a nucleic acid fragment, ligation of nucleic acid fragments, polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplification and/or mutagenesis of selected regions of a nucleic acid sequence, synthesis of oligonucleotide mixtures and ligation of mixture groups to “build” a mixture of nucleic acid molecules and combinations thereof. Nucleic acid molecule homologs can be selected from a mixture of modified nucleic acids by screening for the function of the protein encoded by the nucleic acid with respect to the induction of an anti-viral response, for example by the methods described herein.

A polynucleotide or oligonucleotide sequence can be deduced from the genetic code of a protein, however, the degeneracy of the code must be taken into account, and nucleic acid sequences of the invention also include sequences, which are degenerate as a result of the genetic code, which sequences may be readily determined by those of ordinary skill in the art.

The terms “nucleic acid” and “polynucleotide” and “nucleotide sequence” as used herein refer to an oligonucleotide, polynucleotide or nucleotide and fragments or portions thereof, and to DNA or RNA of genomic or synthetic origin, which may be single- or double-stranded, and represent the sense or antisense strand. The term should also be understood to include, as equivalents, analogs of either RNA or DNA made from nucleotide analogs, and, as applicable to the embodiment being described.

The term “oligonucleotide” refers to a nucleic acid sequence of at least about 6 nucleotides to about 60 nucleotides, preferably about 15 to 30 nucleotides, and more preferably about 20 to 25 nucleotides, which can be used in PCR amplification or a hybridization assay, or a microarray. As used herein, oligonucleotide is substantially equivalent to the terms “amplimers”, “primers”, “oligomers”, and “probes”, as commonly defined in the art.

As used herein, highly stringent conditions are those, which are tolerant of up to about 5% to about 25% sequence divergence, preferably up to about 5% to about 15%. Without limitation, examples of highly stringent (−10° C. below the calculated Tm of the hybrid) conditions use a wash solution of 0.1×SSC (standard saline citrate) and 0.5% SDS at the appropriate Ti (incubation temperature) below the calculated Tm of the hybrid. The ultimate stringency of the conditions is primarily due to the washing conditions, particularly if the hybridization conditions used are those, which allow less stable hybrids to form along with stable hybrids. The wash conditions at higher stringency then remove the less stable hybrids. A common hybridization condition that can be used with the highly stringent to moderately stringent wash conditions described above is hybridization in a solution of 6×SSC (or 6×SSPE), 5×Denhardt's reagent, 0.5% SDS, 100 μg/ml denatured, fragmented salmon sperm DNA at an appropriate incubation temperature Ti. See generally Sambrook et al., Molecular Cloning: A Laboratory Manual, 2d edition, Cold Spring Harbor Press (1989)) for suitable high stringency conditions.

Stringency conditions are a function of the temperature used in the hybridization experiment and washes, the molarity of the monovalent cations in the hybridization solution and in the wash solution(s) and the percentage of formamide in the hybridization solution. In general, sensitivity by hybridization with a probe is affected by the amount and specific activity of the probe, the amount of the target nucleic acid, the detectability of the label, the rate of hybridization, and the duration of the hybridization. The hybridization rate is maximized at a Ti of 20-25° C. below Tm for DNA:DNA hybrids and 10-15° C. below Tm for DNA:RNA hybrids. It is also maximized by an ionic strength of about 1.5M Na⁺. The rate is directly proportional to duplex length and inversely proportional to the degree of mismatching.

Specificity in hybridization, however, is a function of the difference in stability between the desired hybrid and “background” hybrids. Hybrid stability is a function of duplex length, base composition, ionic strength, mismatching, and destabilizing agents (if any).

The Tm of a perfect hybrid may be estimated for DNA:DNA hybrids using the equation of Meinkoth et al (1984), as Tm=81.5° C.+16.6(log M)+0.4(% GC)−0.61(% form)−500/L and for DNA:RNA hybrids, as Tm=79.8° C.+18.5(log M)+0.58(% GC)−11.8(% GC)²−0.56(% form)−820/L where

-   -   M, molarity of monovalent cations, 0.01-0.4 M NaCl,     -   % GC, percentage of G and C nucleotides in DNA, 30%-75%,     -   % form, percentage formamide in hybridization solution, and     -   L, length hybrid in base pairs.

Tm is reduced by 0.5-1.5° C. (an average of 1° C. can be used for ease of calculation) for each 1% mismatching. The Tm may also be determined experimentally. As increasing length of the hybrid (L) in the above equations increases the Tm and enhances stability, the full-length rat gene sequence can be used as the probe.

Filter hybridization is typically carried out at 68° C., and at high ionic strength (e.g., 5-6×SSC), which is non-stringent, and followed by one or more washes of increasing stringency, the last one being of the ultimately desired high stringency. The equations for Tm can be used to estimate the appropriate Ti for the final wash, or the Tm of the perfect duplex can be determined experimentally and Ti then adjusted accordingly.

The present invention further includes a nucleic acid sequence of the present invention operably linked to one or more transcription control sequences to form a recombinant molecule. The phrase “operably linked” refers to linking a nucleic acid sequence to a transcription control sequence in a manner such that the molecule is able to be expressed when transfected (i.e., transformed, transduced or transfected) into a host cell. Transcription control sequences are sequences, which control the initiation, elongation, and termination of transcription. Particularly important transcription control sequences are those which control transcription initiation, such as promoter, enhancer, operator and repressor sequences. Suitable transcription control sequences include any transcription control sequence that can function in at least one of the recombinant cells of the present invention. A variety of such transcription control sequences are known to those skilled in the art. Preferred transcription control sequences include those which function in animal, bacteria, helminth, yeast and insect cells.

A nucleic acid molecule of the invention may be inserted into appropriate expression vector, i.e., a vector which contains the necessary elements for the transcription and translation of the inserted coding sequence.

Vectors can be introduced into cells or tissues by any one of a variety of known methods within the art, including in vitro recombinant DNA techniques, synthetic techniques, and in vivo genetic recombination. Such methods are generally described in Sambrook et al., Molecular Cloning: A Laboratory Manual, Cold Springs Harbor Laboratory, New York 1989, 1992; in Ausubel et al., Current Protocols in Molecular Biology, John Wiley and Sons, Baltimore, Md. 1989.

A recombinant cell of the present invention comprises a cell transfected with a nucleic acid molecule that encodes a polypeptide or peptide of the invention. A variety of expression vector/host systems may be utilized to contain and express sequences encoding the viral antigens of the invention. These include, but are not limited to, microorganisms such as bacteria transformed with recombinant bacteriophage, plasmid, or cosmid DNA expression vectors; yeast transformed with yeast expression vectors; insect cell systems infected with virus expression vectors (e.g., baculovirus); plant cell systems transformed with virus expression vectors (e.g., cauliflower mosaic virus, CaMV; tobacco mosaic virus, TMV) or with bacterial expression vectors (e.g., Ti or pBR322 plasmids); or animal cell systems. The invention is not meant to be limited by the host cell employed. The expression of the construct according to the present invention within the host cell may be transient or it may be stably integrated in the genome thereof.

Upregulation of Activity/Expression Level of VDAC1

In one embodiment VDAC1 expression can be upregulated using a method that comprises the step of providing an exogenous VDAC1 molecule to the cell under conditions sufficient for said VDAC1 amino acid sequence to induce apoptosis of the cell. In some embodiments the VDAC1 molecule is selected from a VDAC1 polypeptide, a VDAC1 polypeptide variant and a VDAC1 peptide, derivative analog or salt thereof according to the principles of the present invention. In other embodiments VDAC1 molecule is selected from a VDAC1 nucleotide sequence according to the principles of the present invention.

In addition to administering a VDAC polypeptide, VDAC polypeptide variant, or polynucleotide directly to the cell, the upregulation VDAC1 level can be effected at one of three levels within a cell: at the genomic level for example by activation of transcription by means of tissue specific or cell specific promoters, enhancers, or other regulatory elements; at the transcript level for example by polyadenylation or activation of translation, or at the protein level for example via post-translational modifications or interaction with inhibitory proteins and the like.

Following is a non-comprehensive list of agents capable of upregulating the expression level and/or activity of VDAC1.

An agent capable of upregulating expression of a VDAC1 may be an exogenous polynucleotide sequence designed and constructed to express VDAC1, VDAC1 variant or at least a functional fragment thereof. Accordingly, the exogenous polynucleotide sequence may be a DNA or RNA sequence encoding a VDAC1 molecule, capable of regulating apoptosis.

The phrase “functional fragment” as used herein refers to part of the VDAC1 protein (i.e., a peptide) that exhibits functional properties of the protein, such as inducing or preventing apoptosis in a cell. According to preferred embodiments of the present invention, the functional portion of VDAC1 is a polypeptide or peptide having a sequence selected from SEQ ID NO:21, SEQ ID NO:24 or SEQ ID NO:27, or a variant form thereof which retains the ability to induce apoptosis can be used. VDAC1 has been cloned from human, rat, mouse, yeast and plant sources, therefore coding sequence information for VDAC1 is available from gene and protein databases, including the GenBank database (http://www4.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/).

To express exogenous VDAC1 in mammalian cells, a polynucleotide sequence encoding a VDAC1 or a variant SEQ ID NO:30, SEQ ID NO:33, SEQ ID NO:36, SEQ ID NO: 51-SEQ ID NO:56) is preferably ligated into a nucleic acid construct suitable for mammalian cell expression. Such a nucleic acid construct includes a promoter sequence for directing transcription of the polynucleotide sequence in the cell in a constitutive or inducible manner.

It will be appreciated that the nucleic acid construct of the present invention can also utilize VDAC1 homologues, which exhibit the desired activity (i.e. modulation of apoptosis) can be, for example, at least about 75%, 80%, 85%, 90%, 95%, 96%, 97%, 98%, 99% or more identical to a nucleotide sequence encoding a protein of the invention (e.g., to the entire length of the nucleotide sequence encoding the protein), or a biologically active portion or complement of any of these nucleotide sequences as determined using the BestFit software of the Wisconsin sequence analysis package, utilizing the Smith and Waterman algorithm.

Constitutive promoters suitable for use with the present invention are promoter sequences that are active under most environmental conditions and most types of cells, such as the cytomegalovirus (CMV) and Rous sarcoma virus (RSV). Inducible promoters suitable for use with the present invention include for example the tetracycline-inducible promoter (Zabala, M. et al., 2004).

The nucleic acid construct (also referred to herein as an “expression vector”) of the present invention includes additional sequences that render this vector suitable for replication and integration in prokaryotes, eukaryotes, or preferably both (e.g., shuttle vectors). A typical cloning vector may also contain transcription and translation initiation sequences, transcription and translation terminators, and a polyadenylation signal.

Eukaryotic promoters typically contain two types of recognition sequences, the TATA box and upstream promoter elements. The TATA box, located 25-30 base pairs upstream of the transcription initiation site, is thought to be involved in directing RNA polymerase to begin RNA synthesis. The other upstream promoter elements determine the rate at which transcription is initiated. Enhancer elements can stimulate transcription from linked homologous or heterologous promoters. Enhancers are active when placed downstream or upstream from the transcription initiation site. Many enhancer elements derived from viruses have a broad host range and are active in a variety of tissues. For example, the SV40 early gene enhancer is suitable for many cell types. Other enhancer/promoter combinations that are suitable for the present invention include those derived from polyoma virus or human or murine cytomegalovirus (CMV) and the long tandem repeats (LTRs) from various retroviruses, such as murine leukemia virus, murine or Rous sarcoma virus, and HIV. In constructing the expression vector, the promoter can be accommodated at various distances from the transcription start site without loss of promoter function.

Polyadenylation sequences can also be added to the expression vector in order to increase the efficiency of VDAC1 mRNA translation, including a GU- or U-rich sequence located downstream from the polyadenylation site and a highly conserved sequence of six nucleotides, namely AAUAAA, located 11-30 nucleotides upstream of the site. Termination and polyadenylation signals suitable for the present invention include those derived from SV40.

In addition to the embodiments already described, the expression vector of the present invention may also contain other specialized elements intended to increase the level of expression of cloned nucleic acids or to facilitate the identification of cells that carry the recombinant DNA. For example, a number of animal viruses contain DNA sequences that promote extra-chromosomal replication of the viral genome in permissive cell types. Plasmids bearing these viral replicons are replicated episomally as long as the appropriate factors are provided by genes either carried on the plasmid or with the genome of the host cell.

The expression vector of the present invention may or may not include a eukaryotic replicon. If a eukaryotic replicon is present, the vector is capable of amplification in eukaryotic cells using the appropriate selectable marker. If the vector does not comprise a eukaryotic replicon, no episomal amplification is possible. Instead, the recombinant DNA integrates into the genome of the engineered cell, where the promoter directs expression of the desired nucleic acid.

The expression vector of the present invention may further comprise polynucleotide sequences that allow, for example, the translation of several proteins from a single mRNA, such as an internal ribosome entry site (IRES) and sequences for genomic integration of the promoter-chimeric polypeptide.

Mammalian expression vectors are commercially available.

Viruses are very specialized infectious agents that have evolved, in many cases, to elude host defense mechanisms. Typically, viruses infect and propagate in specific cell types. The targeting specificity of viral vectors utilizes its natural specificity to specifically target predetermined cell types and thereby introduce a recombinant gene into the infected cell. Thus, the type of vector used by the present invention will depend on the cell type transformed. The ability to select suitable vectors according to the cell type transformed is well within the capabilities of the ordinarily skilled artisan and as such, no general description of selection considerations is provided herein.

Recombinant viral vectors are useful for in vivo expression of VDAC1 since they offer advantages such as lateral infection and targeting specificity of targeted cells.

Introduction of nucleic acids by viral infection offers several advantages over other methods such as lipofection and electroporation, since higher transfection efficiency can be obtained due to the infectious nature of viruses.

An agent capable of upregulating a VDAC1 may also comprise any compound capable of increasing the transcription and/or translation of an endogenous DNA or mRNA encoding the VDAC1 and thus increasing endogenous VDAC1 activity.

An agent capable of upregulating a VDAC1 may also comprise an exogenous polypeptide, including at least a functional portion (as described hereinabove) of the VDAC1

Pharmaceutical Compositions

The present invention provides pharmaceutical compositions comprising a polypeptide or nucleic acid as described above and a physiologically acceptable carrier.

Depending on the location of the tissue of interest, VDAC1 amino acid sequence can be supplied in any manner suitable for the provision of VDAC1 amino acid sequence. Thus, for example, a composition containing a source of VDAC1 amino acid sequence (i.e., a VDAC1 polypeptide or a VDAC1 expression vector, or cells expressing a VDAC1 amino acid sequence, as described herein) can be introduced into tissue of interest (e.g., injected, or pumped as a continuous infusion, or as a bolus within a tumor or intercutaneous or subcutaneous site, applied to all or a portion of the surface of the skin, dropped onto the surface of the eye, etc.).

Apart from other considerations, the fact that the novel active ingredients of the invention are polypeptides, peptides, peptide analogs or peptidomimetics, dictates that the formulation be suitable for delivery of these types of compounds. In general, peptides are less suitable for oral administration due to susceptibility to digestion by gastric acids or intestinal enzymes, but it is now disclosed that the compositions according to the present invention may be administered orally. The pharmaceutical composition of this invention may be administered by any suitable means, such as topically, or parenterally including intranasal, subcutaneous, intramuscular, intravenous, intra-arterial, intraarticular, or intralesional administration. Ordinarily, intravenous (i.v.), intraarticular or oral administration will be preferred.

The molecules of the present invention as active ingredients are dissolved, dispersed or admixed in a diluent or excipient that is pharmaceutically acceptable and compatible with the active ingredient as is well known. Suitable excipients are, for example, water, saline, phosphate buffered saline (PBS), dextrose, glycerol, ethanol, or the like and combinations thereof. Other suitable carriers are well known to those in the art. (See, for example, Ansel et al., 1990 and Gennaro, 1990). In addition, if desired, the composition can contain minor amounts of auxiliary substances such as wetting or emulsifying agents, pH buffering agents.

Pharmaceutical compositions of the present invention may be manufactured by processes well known in the art, e.g., by means of conventional mixing, dissolving, granulating, grinding, pulverizing, dragee-making, levigating, emulsifying, encapsulating, entrapping or lyophilizing processes.

Pharmaceutical compositions for use in accordance with the present invention thus may be formulated in conventional manner using one or more physiologically acceptable carriers comprising excipients and auxiliaries, which facilitate processing of the active compounds into preparations which, can be used pharmaceutically. Proper formulation is dependent upon the route of administration chosen.

For injection, the compounds of the invention may be formulated in aqueous solutions, preferably in physiologically compatible buffers such as Hank's solution, Ringer's solution, or physiological saline buffer. For transmucosal administration, penetrants appropriate to the barrier to be permeated are used in the formulation. Such penetrants for example, polyethylene glycol are generally known in the art.

Dragee cores are provided with suitable coatings. For this purpose, concentrated sugar solutions may be used which may optionally contain gum arabic, talc, polyvinyl pyrrolidone, carbopol gel, polyethylene glycol, titanium dioxide, lacquer solutions and suitable organic solvents or solvent mixtures. Dyestuffs or pigments may be added to the tablets or dragee coatings for identification or to characterize different combinations of active compound doses.

Pharmaceutical compositions, which can be used orally, include push-fit capsules made of gelatin as well as soft, sealed capsules made of gelatin and a plasticizer, such as glycerol or sorbitol. The push-fit capsules may contain the active ingredients in admixture with filler such as lactose, binders such as starches, lubricants such as talc or magnesium stearate and, optionally, stabilizers. In soft capsules, the active compounds may be dissolved or suspended in suitable liquids, such as fatty oils, liquid paraffin, or liquid polyethylene glycols. In addition, stabilizers may be added. All formulations for oral administration should be in dosages suitable for the chosen route of administration. For buccal administration, the compositions may take the form of tablets or lozenges formulated in conventional manner.

For administration by inhalation, the variants for use according to the present invention are conveniently delivered in the form of an aerosol spray presentation from a pressurized pack or a nebulizer with the use of a suitable propellant, e.g., dichlorodifluoromethane, trichlorofluoromethane, dichloro-tetrafluoroethane or carbon dioxide. In the case of a pressurized aerosol, the dosage unit may be determined by providing a valve to deliver a metered amount. Capsules and cartridges of, e.g., gelatin for use in an inhaler or insufflator may be formulated containing a powder mix of the peptide and a suitable powder base such as lactose or starch.

Pharmaceutical compositions for parenteral administration include aqueous solutions of the active ingredients in water-soluble form. Additionally, suspensions of the active compounds may be prepared as appropriate oily injection suspensions. Suitable natural or synthetic carriers are well known in the art (Pillai et al., 2001). Optionally, the suspension may also contain suitable stabilizers or agents, which increase the solubility of the compounds, to allow for the preparation of highly concentrated solutions. Alternatively, the active ingredient may be in powder form for reconstitution with a suitable vehicle, e.g., sterile, pyrogen-free water, before use.

The compounds of the present invention may also be formulated in rectal compositions such as suppositories or retention enemas, using, e.g., conventional suppository bases such as cocoa butter or other glycerides.

Pharmaceutical compositions suitable for use in context of the present invention include compositions wherein the active ingredients are contained in an amount effective to achieve the intended purpose. More specifically, a therapeutically effective amount means an amount of a compound effective to prevent, delay, alleviate or ameliorate symptoms of a disease of the subject being treated. Determination of a therapeutically effective amount is well within the capability of those skilled in the art.

Toxicity and therapeutic efficacy of the polypeptides, fragments and analogs described herein can be determined by standard pharmaceutical procedures in cell cultures or experimental animals, e.g., by determining the IC50 (the concentration which provides 50% inhibition) and the LD50 (lethal dose causing death in 50% of the tested animals) for a subject compound. The data obtained from these cell culture assays and animal studies can be used in formulating a range of dosage for use in human. The dosage may vary depending upon the dosage form employed and the route of administration utilized. The exact formulation, route of administration and dosage can be chosen by the individual physician in view of the patient's condition (e.g. Fingl, et al., 1975, in “The Pharmacological Basis of Therapeutics”, Ch. 1 p. 1).

Depending on the severity and responsiveness of the condition to be treated, dosing can also be a single administration of a slow release composition, with course of treatment lasting from several days to several weeks or until cure is effected or diminution of the disease state is achieved. The amount of a composition to be administered will, of course, be dependent on the subject being treated, the severity of the affliction, the manner of administration, the judgment of the prescribing physician, and all other relevant factors.

In one particularly preferred embodiment according to the present invention, the peptides are administered orally (e.g. as a syrup, capsule, or tablet). In certain embodiments, peptide delivery can be enhanced by the use of protective excipients. This is typically accomplished either by complexing the peptide with a composition to render it resistant to acidic and enzymatic hydrolysis or by packaging the polypeptide in an appropriately resistant carrier such as a liposome. Means of protecting polypeptides for oral delivery are well known in the art (see, e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 5,391,377 describing lipid based formulations for oral delivery of therapeutic agents).

Elevated serum half-life can be maintained by the use of sustained-release protein “packaging” systems. Such sustained release systems are well known to those of skill in the art. In one preferred embodiment, a biodegradable microsphere delivery system for proteins and peptides such as the ProLease® system (reviewed in Tracy, 1998) a dry powder composed of biodegradable polymeric microspheres containing the peptide in a polymer matrix that can be compounded as a dry formulation with or without other agents. Serum half-life can also be extended by conjugating the peptide or polypeptide of the invention to a moiety such as PEG using reagents and methods known to those with skill in the art.

The foregoing formulations and administration methods are intended to be illustrative and not limiting. It will be appreciated that, using the teaching provided herein, other suitable formulations and modes of administration can be readily devised.

A tablet may be made by compression or molding, optionally with one or more accessory ingredients. Compressed tablets may be prepared by compressing in a suitable machine the active peptide(s) in a free-flowing form such as a powder or granules, optionally mixed with a binder, (e.g. povidone, gelatin, hydroxypropylmethyl cellulose), lubricant, inert diluent, preservative, disintegrant (e.g. sodium starch glycollate, cross-linked povidone, cross-linked sodium carboxymethyl cellulose), surface active or dispersing agent. Molded tablets may be made by molding in a suitable machine a mixture of the powdered peptide(s) moistened with an inert liquid diluent. The tablets may optionally be coated or scored and may be formulated so as to provide slow or controlled release of the active ingredient therein using, for example, hydroxypropylmethyl cellulose in varying proportions to provide the desired release profile.

A syrup may be made by adding the active peptide(s) to a concentrated, aqueous solution of a sugar, for example, sucrose, to which may also be added any necessary ingredients. Such accessory ingredients may include flavorings, an agent to retard crystallization of the sugar or an agent to increase the solubility of any other ingredients, such as a polyhydric alcohol, for example, glycerol or sorbitol.

In addition to the aforementioned ingredients, the formulations of this invention may further include one or more accessory ingredient(s) selected from diluents, buffers, flavoring agents, binders, surface active agents, thickeners, lubricants, preservatives, (including antioxidants) and the like.

According to some embodiments of the invention, the therapeutically effective amount of the VDAC1 polypeptide, polypeptide variant, peptide, derivative or analog is a dosage in a range from about 0.02 mg/kg to about 10 mg/kg. Preferably, the dosage of the VDAC1 amino acid sequence according to the present invention is in a range from about 0.05 mg/kg to about 2 mg/kg, more preferably, the dosage of the VDAC1 peptide, derivative or analog is in a range from about 0.1 mg/kg to about 1 mg/kg. It will be understood that the dosage may be an escalating dosage so that low dosage may be administered first, and subsequently higher dosages may be administered until an appropriate response is achieved. Also, the dosage of the composition can be administered to the subject in multiple administrations in the course of the treatment period in which a portion of the dosage is administered at each administration.

Without wishing to be bound to theory, the peptide, derivative or analog thereof is designed to interfere with VDAC1 protein-protein interactions. Preferably, the peptide, derivative or analog thereof is designed to inhibit interactions between VDAC1 protein and a mitochondrial anti-apoptosis protein.

The art discloses examples of peptides and analogs thereof designed to interfere with protein-protein interactions. For example, SAHB (stabilized a helix of BCL2 domains) is a helical, protease resistant, cell permeable peptidomimetic useful for activation of apoptosis in cancer cells (Walensky et al., 2004). Another example is a peptidomimetic designed to mimic the protein-protein interactions of an apoptotic activator, SMAC (Li et al, 2004).

It will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art that the therapeutically effective amount of the molecule according to the present invention will depend, inter alia upon the administration schedule, the unit dose of molecule administered, whether the molecule is administered in combination with other therapeutic agents, the immune status and health of the patient, the therapeutic activity of the molecule administered and the judgment of the treating physician. As used herein, a “therapeutically effective amount” refers to the amount of a molecule required to alleviate one or more symptoms associated with a disorder being treated over a period of time.

In some embodiments the peptides and derivatives and analogs thereof of the present invention are delivered to cells as modified peptides. In one embodiment the peptides of the invention are linked to a cell penetrating peptide (CPP). In one preferred embodiment the CPP is an amino acid sequence comprising the Drosophila antennapedia (ANTP) domain or a fragment thereof.

In other embodiments the peptides of the present invention are delivered to cells as nucleic acids encoding the peptides in a non-viral gene delivery system. Particulate gene transfer systems are usually based on oligo- or polycationic carrier molecules which can condense nucleic acids by electrostatic interactions with their negatively charged phosphate backbone. The positive charge of cationic lipids leads to electrostatic interaction with the DNA, the lipidic moiety enables the hydrophobic collapse and the formation of so called ‘lipoplexes’. Polycationic carrier molecules, like polylysine or polyethyleneimine (PEI) bind and condense DNA due to their high density of positive charges and result in the formation of so called ‘polyplexes’. The surface of the delivery particle can be coated with hydrophilic polymers, e.g. polyethyleneglycol (PEG), which prevent binding to plasma proteins, blood cells and the RES and also enables a prolonged circulation time in the blood stream.

In yet another embodiment, the peptides of the present invention are delivered to cells in vesicles. Immunoliposomes have been described to allow targeted delivery of anticancer drugs into solid tumors (for review see Sapra and Allen et al, 2004).

Polypeptides and peptides, and polynucleotide sequences of the present invention can be administered to a subject following microencapsulation. Methods of preparing microcapsules are known in the art and include preparation from an assortment of materials including natural and synthetic materials.

Therapeutic Use

Without wishing to be bound to theory, the mitochondrial pathway serves as an excellent target for apoptosis-inducing therapies for several reasons:

Mitochondria are integrators of the apoptotic signal: they store apoptotic molecules and release them to the cytosol to initiate caspase cascades;

Mitochondria-directed agents are predicted to be effective at low concentrations, since only a fraction of a cell's mitochondria need to be involved for apoptosis to ensue;

Downstream effectors of mitochondrial apoptosis are present in all cell types, and seem to be conserved in tumor cells; and

Mitochondrial apoptosis induction is known to kill cells effectively.

Accordingly, the present invention provides VDAC1 polypeptides, polypeptide variants, peptides, and analogs, derivatives and salts thereof useful in promoting or inhibiting apoptosis in the treatment of diseases associated with aberrant apoptosis.

As used herein, the phrase “diseases associated with aberrant apoptosis” includes diseases and disorders in which timely apoptosis does not ensue and cells proliferate without restraint, for example in proliferative diseases including cancer and tumor growth.

In one preferred embodiment the VDAC1 compounds of the invention are useful in preventing or alleviating a cell-proliferative disorder or a symptom of a cell-proliferative disorder. Cell-proliferative disorders and/or a symptom of a cell-proliferative disorder are prevented or alleviated by administering a VDAC1 polypeptide, polypeptide variant, or peptide to a subject. The cell-proliferative disorder is, for example, neoplasias including solid tumor cancers of the lung, pancreas, stomach, colon, rectum, kidney, breast, cervical/uterine, ovarian, testicular, melanoma, head and neck, and esophagus, as well as hematological cancers, such as leukemias and lymphomas, non-malignant neoplasias, cellular expansions due to DNA viruses such as Epstein-Barr virus, African swine fever virus and adenovirus, lymphoproliferative conditions, arthritis, inflammation, or autoimmune diseases.

Methods of Promoting Apoptosis

The present invention provides compounds, compositions and methods of promoting, inducing or enhancing apoptosis. Promotion or induction of apoptosis is useful in the treatment of various disorders associated with aberrant cell proliferation, such as, for example, neoplasias including solid and non-solid cancers and non-malignant neoplasias. Diseases and disorders such as lymphoproliferative conditions, cancer including drug resistant cancer, arthritis, inflammation, autoimmune diseases and the like result from a defect in cell death regulation. Furthermore, certain viruses including Epstein-Barr virus and adenovirus, utilize the host cellular machinery to drive their own replication while repressing host cell death. Accordingly, it would be desirable to promote, induce or enhance apoptotic mechanisms in such disease conditions.

The present invention provides a method for inducing apoptotic cell death comprising contacting a cell with a VDAC1 peptide or VDAC1 polypeptide.

In one preferred embodiment of the invention, the compounds of the present invention are useful for the preparation of a medicament for inhibiting proliferative diseases or disorders including tumor growth and tumor progression. In another embodiment of the invention, the compounds are useful for preventing, treating or inhibiting a cell proliferative disease or disorder. The cell proliferative disease can be malignant or benign. The compositions are useful for the treatment or prevention of non-solid cancers, e.g. hematopoietic malignancies such as, but not being limited to, all types of leukemia, e.g. chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML), acute myelogenous leukemia (AML), mast cell leukemia, chronic lymphocytic leukemia and acute lymphocytic leukemia, lymphomas, and multiple myeloma, as well as of solid tumors such as, but not being limited to, mammary, ovarian, prostate, colon, cervical, gastric, esophageal, papillary thyroid, pancreatic, bladder, colorectal, melanoma, small-cell lung and non-small-cell lung cancers, granulosa cell carcinoma, transitional cell carcinoma, vascular tumors, all types of sarcomas, e.g. osteosarcoma, chondrosarcoma, Kaposi's sarcoma, myosarcoma, hemangiosarcoma, and glioblastomas.

It is to be understood that the terms “treating a proliferative disease or disorder” as used herein in the description and in the claims, are intended to encompass tumor formation, primary tumors, tumor progression or tumor metastasis.

In one preferred embodiment of the invention, the compounds of the present invention are useful for the preparation of a medicament for inhibiting proliferative diseases or disorders including tumor growth and tumor progression. In another embodiment of the invention, the compounds are useful for preventing, treating or inhibiting a cell proliferative disease or disorder. The cell proliferative disease can be malignant or benign. The compositions are useful for the treatment or prevention of non-solid cancers, e.g. hematopoietic malignancies such as, but not being limited to, all types of leukemia, e.g. chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML), acute myelogenous leukemia (AML), mast cell leukemia, chronic lymphocytic leukemia and acute lymphocytic leukemia, lymphomas, and multiple myeloma, as well as of solid tumors such as, but not being limited to, mammary, ovarian, prostate, colon, cervical, gastric, esophageal, papillary thyroid, pancreatic, bladder, colorectal, melanoma, small-cell lung and non-small-cell lung cancers, granulosa cell carcinoma, transitional cell carcinoma, vascular tumors, all types of sarcomas, e.g. osteosarcoma, chondrosarcoma, Kaposi's sarcoma, myosarcoma, hemangiosarcoma, and glioblastomas.

The following examples are presented in order to more fully illustrate some embodiments of the invention. They should, in no way be construed, however, as limiting the broad scope of the invention. One skilled in the art can readily devise many variations and modifications of the principles disclosed herein without departing from the scope of the invention.

EXAMPLES Materials and Methods

Materials

Carboxymethyl (CM)-cellulose, glucose-6-phosphate, glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G-6-PDH), HEPES, leupeptin, mannitol, PMSF, Ru360, soybean asolectin, staurosporine, sucrose and Tris were purchased from Sigma (USA). Cibacron blue-agarose was purchased from Amersham Biosciences (Sweden). n-Octyl-b-D-glucopyranoside (β-OG) was obtained from Bachem AG (Bubendorf, Switzerland). Lauryl-(dimethyl)-amineoxide (LDAO) and ruthenium red (97% pure) were obtained from Fluka (Switzerland). Hydroxyapatite (Bio-Gel HTP) was purchased from Bio-Rad Laboratories (USA) and Celite from the British Drug Houses (UK). Monoclonal anti-VDAC antibodies raised against the N-terminal region of 31HL human porin were purchased from Calbiochem (clone no. 173/045, Cat. No. 529538-B, Calbiochem-Novobiochem, UK). Monoclonal antibodies against actin and against the green fluorescence proteins (GFP) were obtained from Santa Cruz Biotechnology (USA). Polyclonal antibodies against HK were kindly provided by Dr. John E. Wilson (University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Mich.). Horseradish peroxidase (HRP)-conjugated goat anti-rabbit antibodies were obtained from Zymed (USA). HRP-conjugated anti-mouse antibodies were obtained from Promega (USA).

Plasmids and Site-Directed Mutagenesis

mVDAC1 (mouse VDAC1) cDNAs (obtained from W. J. Craigen, University of Houston, Tex.) were subcloned into plasmid pEGFP-N1 (Clontech) for construction of the VDAC1-GFP or VDAC1 expressing mammalian vector with a neomycin resistant gene serving as marker. Rat muscle VDAC1 cDNA was cloned and sequenced (Shoshan-Barmatz, V. and Ashley R., unpublished). Site-directed mutagenesis of mVDAC1 was carried out in vitro by overlapping PCR amplification. Recombinant plasmid pSEYC58, carrying wild type mVDAC1 gene, served as the template for amplification of the VDAC1 variant genes. The variant mVDAC1 genes were constructed using the T7 and T3 universal primers, together with the primers shown in table 1 to introduce the various point mutations.

Cell Types

The U937 human monocytic cell line was grown under an atmosphere of 95% air and 5% CO₂ in RPMI 1640 supplemented with 10% fetal calf serum (FCS), 1 mM L-glutamine, 100 U/ml penicillin, and 100 μg/ml streptomycin.

T-REx-293 cells: A transformed primary human embryonal kidney cell line (Invitrogen) was grown under an atmosphere of 95% air and 5% CO₂ in DMEM supplemented with 10% fetal calf serum (FCS), 2 mM L-glutamine, 1000 U/ml penicillin, 1 mg/ml streptomycin and 5 μg/ml blasticidin. Other cell lines used were stably transfected derivatives of T-REx-293 that express the tetracycline repressor. hVDAC1-shRNA T-REx-293 cells: T-REx-293 cells, stably transfected with the pSUPERretro plasmid encoding shRNA targeting hVDAC1 were grown with 0.5 μg/ml puromycin and 5 μg/ml blasticidin. The pc-mVDAC1-hVDAC1-shRNA T-REx-293 cells: hVDAC1-shRNA-T-REx-293 cells were transfected with plasmid mVDAC1- or E72Q-mVDAC1-pcDNA4/TO, expressing mVDAC1 or E72Q-mVDAC1 under the tetracycline control. Cells were grown with 200 μg/ml zeocin, 0.5 μg/ml puromycin and 5 μg/ml blasticidin.

All constructs were confirmed by sequencing. The VDAC1 polypeptide variant sequences are denoted herein as follows:

E72Q: SEQ ID NO:43; E87Q D88N: SEQ ID NO:44; E65Q: SEQ ID NO:45; K73L: SEQ ID NO:46; D77N: SEQ ID NO:47; E202Q: SEQ ID NO:48; N75A: SEQ ID NO:49; G67A: SEQ ID NO:50. The corresponding nucleotide sequences are denoted herein SEQ ID NO:51-SEQ ID NO:58, respectively.

TABLE 1 Primers used in synthesizing the VDAC1 variants VDAC1 Variant Primer sequences E72Q-mVDAC1 Forward 5′-GACGGTTTACACAGAAGTGGAAC-3′ (SEQ ID NO: 59) Reverse 5′-GTTCCACTTCTGTGTAAACGTC-3′ (SEQ ID NO: 60) E65Q-mVDAC1 Forward 5′-TGGACTCAGTATGGGCTGACG-3′ (SEQ ID NO: 61) Reverse 5′-GCCCATACTGAGTCCATCTG-3′ (SEQ ID NO: 62) K73L-mVDAC1 Forward 5′-ACAGAGCTGTGGAACACAGAC-3′ (SEQ ID NO: 63) Reverse 5′-GTTCCACAGCTCTGTAAACGTC-3′ (SEQ ID NO: 64) D77N-mVDAC1 Forward 5′-GAACACACAGAACACCCTGGG-3′ (SEQ ID NO: 65) Reverse 5′-GTGTTCTGTGTGTTCCACTTCTC-3′ (SEQ ID NO: 66) E202Q-mVDAC1 Forward 5′-GAAGTTGCAGACTGCTGTCAATCTC-3′ (SEQ ID NO: 67) Reverse 5′-GCGAGATTGACAGCAGTCTGCAAC-3′ (SEQ ID NO: 68) N75A-mVDAC1 Forward 5′-GAACACAGACGCCACCC-3′ (SEQ ID NO: 69) Reverse 5′-GTGGCGTCTGTGTTCC-3′ (SEQ ID NO: 70) G67A-mVDAC1 Forward 5′-GATGGACTGAGTATGCCCTGACG-3′ (SEQ ID NO: 71) Reverse 5′-GTCAGGGCATACTCAGTCCATCTG-3′ (SEQ ID NO: 72) Underlined nucleotides introduce the relevant mutation.

Mitochondrial Preparation

Mitochondria were isolated rat liver, brain (Johnson and Lardy 1967) or human leukemic U937 cells using published procedures (Bouregeron, et al, 1992).

Protein Determination

Mitochondrial protein content was determined by the Biuret method; hexokinase concentration was determined using the Bradford method with ovalbumin as standard.

Ca²⁺ Accumulation

Ca²⁺ uptake by freshly prepared rat liver mitochondria (0.5 mg/ml) was assayed for 1 to 20 minutes at 30° C. in the presence of 225 mM mannitol, 75 mM sucrose, 120 μM CaCl₂ (containing 3×10⁴ cpm/nmol [⁴⁵Ca²⁺]), 5 mM HEPES/KOH, 5 mM succinate and 0.1 mM Pi, pH 7.0. Uptake of ⁴⁵Ca²⁺ was terminated by rapid Millipore filtration followed by a wash with 5 ml of 150 mM KCl.

Mitochondrial Swelling

Ca⁺-induced mitochondria large amplitude swelling was assayed in freshly-prepared mitochondria under the same conditions as for Ca²⁺ accumulation, except that the temperature was 24° C. Cyclosporine A (CsA)-sensitive mitochondrial swelling was initiated upon addition of Ca²⁺ (0.2 mM) to the sample. Absorbance changes at 520 nm were monitored every 15-20 sec with an Ultraspec 2100 spectrophotometer.

Release of Cytochrome C

Mitochondria (0.5 mg/ml) were incubated with or without 1 U/ml of HK-I for 20 min in a solution containing 150 mM KCl, 25 mM NaHCO₃, 5 mM succinate, 1 mM MgCl₂, 3 mM KH₂PO₄, 20 mM HEPES, pH 7.4. Swelling was monitored after the addition of 200 μM Ca²⁺. Following complete swelling, the samples were centrifuged and mitochondrial pellets (25 μg) or supernatant (40 μl) were subjected to SDS-PAGE and Western blot analyses using monoclonal anti-cytochrome C antibodies.

Rat Brain HK-I Purification, Activity and Binding to Mitochondria

Rat brain HK-I was purified as described previously (Wilson, J. E., 1989; see also Azoulay-Zohar et al., 2004). HK-I activity was assayed by coupling NADH formation to the production of G-6-P by HK-I and its subsequent oxidation by G-6-PDH in a reaction mixture containing: 4 mM Mg-HEPES, 1 mM K-EDTA, 0.6 mM NAD+, 10 mM glucose, 1 mM ATP, 1 mg/ml BSA, 20 mM K-HEPES, pH 7.8. HK-I binding to mitochondria isolated from the different yeast strains (2 mg/ml) was carried out by a 1 h incubation on ice of the mitochondria with HK-I (0-2 U/ml) in 0.1 ml of a solution containing 420 mM mannitol, 140 mM sucrose, 1 mg/ml BSA, 5 mM Mg-HEPES, pH 7.8. Soluble and mitochondria-bound HK-I-containing fractions were separated and analyzed for HK-I activity (Azoulay-Zohar et al., 2004). HK-I binding was defined as the percent of activity present in the bound fraction relative to the total activities found in the bound and free fractions combined.

Purification of VDAC

Native and mutated mVDAC1 were extracted with lauryldimethylamine N-oxide (LDAO) from mitochondria isolated from yeast expressing various VDACs, and purified by chromatography on hydroxyapatite followed by carboxymethyl (CM)-cellulose where LDAO was replaced by β-OG (β-octylglucoside).

VDAC Channel Recording and Analysis

Reconstitution of purified VDAC into a planar lipid bilayer (PLB) multi-channel current recording and data analyses were carried as follows. Briefly, PLB were prepared from soybean asolactin dissolved in n-decane (50 mg/ml) in a chamber containing 10 mM HEPES/KOH pH 7.4 and 0.5 or 1M NaCl (cis/trans). Only PLBs with a resistance greater than 100 GΩ were used. Purified VDAC (about 1 ng) was added to the chamber defined as the cis side. After one or a few channels inserted into the PLB, excess protein was removed by perfusion of the cis chamber with 20 volumes of a solution (with the same composition as before perfusion), in order to prevent further protein incorporation. Currents were recorded under voltage-clamp mode using a Bilayer Clamp amplifier (Warner Instrument, USA). The currents were measured with respect to the trans side of the membrane (ground). The currents were low-pass filtered at 1 kHz, using a Bessal filter (Frequency Devices, USA) and digitized on-line using a Digidata 1200 interface board and pCLAMP 6 software (Axon Instruments). Sigma Plot 2000 scientific software was used for data analyses. Experiments were performed at 23-25° C.

Gel Electrophoresis and Immunoblot Analyses

SDS-PAGE was performed according to Laemmli. Gels were stained with Coomassie Brilliant blue or electroblotted onto nitrocellulose membranes and immunostained using monoclonal anti-VDAC, anti-GFP, anti-actin or polyclonal anti-HK-I antibodies followed by incubation with HRP-conjugated anti-mouse IgG for anti-VDAC, anti-GFP or anti-actin antibodies, and HRP-conjugated goat anti-rabbit IgG for anti-HK-I as secondary antibodies. Antibody binding was detected using chemiluminescence (Santa Cruz Biotechnology, USA).

Tissue Culture and Cell Transfection

Logarithmically-growing U937 cells were resuspended in RPMI 1640 supplemented with 10% FCS, 100 U/ml penicillin and 100 mg/ml streptomycin at a concentration of 2.5×10⁷ cells/ml. Cells were transfected to express rat or murine VDAC1 using the vectors pEGFP, pEGFP-VDAC1, pEGFP-E72Q-mVDAC1, pE-mVDAC1 or pE-E72Q-mVDAC1. Transfection of the U937 cells was performed by electroporation with a single pulse from a Bio-Rad micropulser II with a capacitance extender unit (200 V, 950 mF). Cells were incubated on ice for 10 min before and after transfection, and then resuspended in 20 ml of RPMI 1640 supplemented with 10% FCS, 1 mM 1-glutamine, 100 U/ml penicillin and 100 mg/ml streptomycin. Transfection efficiencies were 68-72%, as assessed by GFP expression. GFP-positive cells were viewed under a microscope using a blue filter.

Other cells were transfected using metafectene. In summary, cells (3×10⁵) growing at 37° C. in a CO₂ incubator were cultured to 30-50% confluence 24 h before transfection. For transfection, two separate solutions were prepared: solution A: 5 μg DNA in 50 μl of serum and antibiotics free DMEM medium; solution B: 2.4 μl metafectene reagent (Biontex, Munich, DE) in 50 μl serum and antibiotic-free DMEM medium. The two solutions were combined, mixed gently and incubate at room temperature for 20 min (DNA lipid complexes). After incubation, the cells were resuspended in 1 ml of serum and the DMEM medium, followed by addition of the DNA lipid complexes and gentle mixing. After 5 hours, the transfection mixture was replaced with a complete DMEM medium and cells were allowed to grow at 37° C. in a CO₂ incubator.

Double-Transfection

U937 cells were transfected with pcDNA3.1-HisA or pcDNA3.1-HisA-HK-I (neomycin resistance; provided by Dr. J. E. Wilson, University of Michigan) by electroporation, and grown in complete RPMI 1640 with neomycin (400 mg/ml). After 12 days, the selected cells were transfected with pEGFP, pEGFP-mVDAC1 or pEGFP-E72Q-mVDAC1 and were grown in the presence of neomycin (400 mg/ml). The viability of double-transfected cells was analyzed during 48 to 76 hr.

Cell Treatment

Cells were plated at a density of 5.4×10⁴ cells/cm² in 24-well plates, washed once with PBS and placed in serum-free medium. Cells were then incubated with or without RuR or Ru360. Cells were also treated with 1.25 mM staurosporine (STS) to induce apoptosis and analyzed for viability 3, 5 and 7 hrs after STS addition. Treatments with curcumin (120 μM) or As₂O₃ (20 μM) were carried out for 48 hrs.

Acridine Orange (AcOr)/Ethidium Bromide (EtBr) Staining of Cells

To determine cell viability, cells were stained with 100 mg/ml acridine orange (AcOr) and 100 mg/ml ethidium bromide (EtBr) in PBS. Cells were centrifuged at 1500×g for 5 min at room temperature and resuspended in 25 ml of complete medium, to which 2 ml of AcOr/EtBr solution were added. The cells were then visualized by fluorescence microscopy (Olympus IX51) and images were recorded on an Olympus DP70 camera, using a SWB filter.

Example 1 Mapping of the Protein-Protein Docking Surfaces in VDAC1

Recently, two domains of VDAC1 that are required for HK-I protection against cell death were identified. Using deletion analysis and site-directed mutagenesis of VDAC1, key contact surfaces on VDAC1 that are essential in its interaction with anti-apoptotic proteins were mapped. VDAC1 mutants were analyzed at the level of purified proteins reconstituted into planar lipid bilayers, isolated mitochondria and in cell culture, where the biological effects of the mutations on induction of apoptosis and protection against apoptosis by HK-I were determined.

The results presented herein in FIG. 1 show that HK-I interacts directly with VDAC1 and induces its closure. FIGS. 1A-1C show that HK-I is able to close native VDAC1 but not mutated E72Q-VDAC1 (SEQ ID NO:43). FIG. 1A: Purified recombinant native or E72Q-mutated mVDAC1 was reconstituted into a PLB (planar lipid bilayer) in symmetrical solutions of 0.5 M NaCl. Currents through VDAC1 channel in response to a voltage step from zero to −20 mV were recorded before and 5 min after the addition of HK-I (28.6 mU/ml). The dashed lines indicate the zero-current level. FIG. 1B shows a Coomassie stain of purified VDAC1 (0.2 μg) and HK-I (0.1 μg) used in these studies. FIG. 1C: Cytochrome c release was assayed, using a monoclonal anti-cytochrome c antibody, in the absence or the presence of HK-I (1 U/ml), chymotrypsin-treated HK-I (1 U/ml) or CsA (10 micro M).

Example 2 HK-I Prevents PTP Opening and Release of Cytochrome C

FIG. 2 shows the effects of HK-I on PTP opening, as monitored by Ca²⁺ accumulation and swelling of energized mitochondria, and by release of cytochrome c. HK-I inhibited PTP opening and this inhibition was prevented by an antibody specific to the N-terminal of HK-I (FIG. 2C). The failure of non-binding species of HK, such as yeast HK, or trypsin- or chymotrypsin-treated HK-I (FIG. 2D) to prevent PTP opening, confirmed the specificity of the HK-I effect, and of the requirement of the HK-I N-terminal region for its interaction with VDAC.

HK-I prevented the release of cytochrome c from mitochondria (as revealed by Western blot analysis, FIG. 1C). The effects of HK-I are similar to those of the well-known inhibitor of PTP, cyclosporine A (CsA) (FIGS. 1C and 2B).

Example 3 HK-I Over-Expression Protects Against Apoptotic Cell Death Induced by Over-Expression of Native and Some VDAC1 Variants, But not of E72Q- and E65Q-mVDAC1

Leukemic U937 cells were transformed to express green fluorescent protein (GFP) and VDAC1-GFP. While cells expressing GFP showed diffuse green fluorescence, cells expressing VDAC1-GFP showed mainly punctuated fluorescence confined to membranes (FIG. 3A). Immunoblot analysis of cell extracts using anti-VDAC or anti-GFP antibodies confirmed the expression of VDAC1-GFP (FIG. 3B). It is noteworthy that the fused VDAC1-GFP was highly protease-sensitive and was readily cleaved to VDAC1 and GFP, as reflected in the appearance of GFP in the VDAC1-GFP expressing cells (FIG. 3B). As shown, in cells transfected to stably over-express HK-I, with and without a second transfection with mVDAC1-GFP or E72Q-mVDAC1-GFP, the level of HK-I was about 3-4-fold higher than in HK-I non-transfected cells

The effect of HK-I over-expression on apoptotic cell death of the GFP-tagged version of native and E72Q-mVDAC1 over-expressing cells was examined. Cells were first transformed to over-express HK-I and then transfected with native mVDAC1-GFP or E72Q-mVDAC1-GFP. Apoptotic cell death induced by native mVDAC1 over-expression was dramatically reduced in the cells over-expressing HK-I to a low level of apoptosis (<10%), equal to the control (FIGS. 3C and 3D).

The E72 amino acid is not conserved in the yeast VDAC1, known for its low ability to bind HK-I. Comparison of the amino acid sequence in the structural cytosolic β-loop 2 domain, which includes the E72 amino acid residue in human or murine VDAC1 with that of VDAC1 from Saccharomyces cerevisiae, or Neurospora crassa reveals that in addition to E72, the charged amino acids D77, K73, and E65 are not conserved. To verify these residues' function in HK-I binding, they were replaced by N, L, and Q, respectively, using overlapping PCR.

Since VDAC1 overexpression induces cell death, U937 cells (FIG. 4A, 4B) or T-Rex™ 293 human embryonic kidney cells (FIG. 4B) were first transformed to stably over-express HK-I and then transfected with native, E65Q, E72Q, K73L, D77N, N75A, or G67A mutated mVDAC1-GFP. Apoptotic cell death induced by native mVDAC1 and by VDAC1 mutated at non-charged amino acids N75A or G67A mutated-mVDAC1 over-expression was dramatically reduced in the cells over-expressing HK-I (FIG. 4B). On the other hand, as obtained with E72Q-expressing cells, no protective effect of HK-I against cell death was obtained in cells over-expressing E65Q-, K73L-, D77N- or E202Q-mVDAC1 variants (FIG. 4). These results suggest that HK-I interaction with VDAC1 involves charged amino acids in the cytosolic β-loop domain in which the E72 residue is located. This β-loop includes amino acid residues T64 to about N78. FIG. 3E shows that HK-I protects against apoptosis induced by STS.

Example 4 Ectopic Expression of VDAC1 Induces Apoptosis

Expression of exogenous murine or rat VDAC1 or VDAC1-GFP, E72Q- or other mutated mVDAC1 variants in various cell lines resulted in cell death characterized by nuclear fragmentation. About 70 to 85% of the cells had died 70 to 78 hrs following cell transfection (FIGS. 3-5; Tables 2-4 herein below; Zaid et al, 2005). Similar results were obtained upon transfection of Jurkat cells with rice or human VDAC (Godbole et al, 2003). These results indicate that the cellular expression level of VDAC may play a crucial factor in the process of mitochondria-mediated apoptosis.

The mechanism by which enhanced VDAC1 expression leads to cell death is not known. Without wishing to be bound to theory, it is possible that a transient increase in the VDAC1 levels produce a significant increase in the leak of the outer mitochondrial membranes and this, in turn, decreases cell viability. This suggestion is in line with the finding that expression of exogenous VDAC1 could only be observed upon exposure of the native but not VDAC1 variant transfected cells to RuR, a treatment that protects against cell death. (FIG. 5D). It thus seems that it is not an increase in the total amount of VDAC1, but rather an increase in its functionality that is responsible for the apoptotic cell death. Similarly, cells over-expressing HK-I, which interact with VDAC1 and inhibit cytochrome c release, were resistant to VDAC1 exogenous expression induced cell death (FIGS. 3 and 4).

Recently, we have shown that dynamic VDAC oligomerization is involved in the release of cytochrome c from mitochondria and suggested that cytochrome c may cross the outer mitochondrial membrane via the large flexible pore formed between individual subunits of a VDAC1 tetramer (Zalk, et al., 2005). Without wishing to be bound to theory, VDAC1 over-expression may encourage VDAC1 oligomerization and thus allow release of pro-apoptotic proteins, such as cytochrome c, from the mitochondrial intermembrane space. The apoptosis-inducing effect of the reagent As₂O₃, was recently attributed to an induction of homodimerization of VDAC molecules (Zheng, et al, 2004). This effect could be prevented by over-expression of the anti-apoptotic protein Bcl-xL.

FIG. 6 shows the transmembrane topology of the VDAC1 protein according to the 13 transmembrane β-strand model (modified from Colombini, M., 2004). Proposed cytoplasmic domains of VDAC1, as well as the mutated amino acids are shown schematically. The gray sequences are the proposed peptides for involvement in protein-protein interactions. Mutation of the circled amino acids E65, E72, K73, D77, E202 eliminates HK-I binding to VDAC and HK-I protection against cell death (FIGS. 3 and 4).

Example 5 RuR Protects Against Apoptotic Cell Death Induced by Over-Expression of Native, But not of Mutated mVDAC

To further investigate the relationship between the protective effect of RuR and its interaction with VDAC1, leukemic U937 cells were transfected with a plasmid encoding native, E65Q, E72Q, K73L, or D77N-mVDAC1 variant. Fifty six (56) hr after transfection, cells were exposed for 20 hr to RuR (1 μM) and cell viability was analyzed using acridine orange/ethidium bromide staining. In each independent experiment, approximately 250 cells were counted for each including early and late apoptotic cells. Data shown in FIG. 5 and Table 2 are the mean±SEM (n=3). Cells transfected with native, or mutated mVDAC1 or mVDAC1-GFP, to induce over-expression, resulted in increased apoptotic cell death (70-75%), as characterized by enhanced nuclear fragmentation indicative of apoptotic cell death (FIG. 5A). In contrast, control or GFP-transfected cells showed about 14-16% nuclear fragmentation (FIGS. 5B and 5C). Pre-incubation of cells transfected to induce over-expression of VDAC1 or VDAC1-GFP with 1 μM RuR for 18 hr or with 5 μM RuR for 5 hr dramatically reduced their apoptotic cell death (64-72% protection). RuR had no effect or even slightly increased apoptotic death in control or plasmid-transfected cells (FIGS. 5B and 5C).

Strikingly, the protective effect of RuR on recombinant VDAC1 over-expression-induced cell death was not observed in cells expressing E72Q-mVDAC1, E72Q-mVDAC1-GFP or E65Q-mVDAC1 (FIGS. 5B and 5C). Given the RuR-insensitive behavior of E72Q-mVDAC1, as reflected by the inability of RuR to inhibit channel activity in this mutant (FIG. 5E), it appears that RuR protection against apoptosis is exerted through its direct interaction with VDAC. Moreover, the increase (over 5-fold) in the total level of VDAC1 protein in the transfected cells was observed only upon exposure of cells expressing native mVDAC1 to RuR, but not in cells expressing E72Q-mVDAC1 (FIG. 5D).

This indicates that the apoptotic cell death induced by exogenous VDAC1 expression leads to VDAC1 degradation that was prevented upon RuR binding to VDAC1 and protecting against apoptotic cell death.

TABLE 2 Cells transfected Apoptotic cells, % with: −RuR +RuR % of protection Control  6.1 ± 1.0  9.1 ± 2.1 mVDAC-GFP 69.6 ± 2.7 24.7 ± 2.2 65 E72Q-mVDAC-GFP 71.9 ± 4.7 71.6 ± 4.4 0 E65Q-mVDAC-GFP 72.7 ± 1.0 73.4 ± 0.9 0 K73L-mVDAC-GFP 68.2 ± 3.5 37.7 ± 4.1 45 D77N-mVDAC-GFP 69.1 ± 2.7 38.7 ± 4.4 44

Example 6 RuR Induces Channel Closure of Native But not E72Q mVDAC1 Variant

RuR, known to interact with several Ca²⁺ binding proteins and to inhibit Ca²⁺ transport in mitochondria, inhibited channel activity of native but not of E72Q-mutated VDAC1 (FIG. 5E). Purified recombinant native and E72Q-mVDAC1 variant were reconstituted into a planar lipid bilayer (PLB) and the currents produced in response to voltages stepped from a holding potential of 0 mV to −20 mV were recorded. In nine of ten experiments, RuR inhibited recombinant native mVDAC1 channel activity and stabilized the channel in an almost completely closed state. The level of inhibition calculated from five different experiments was 89.2±2.8% (mean±SD, n=9). In contrast, the channel activity of E72Q-mVDAC1 was not inhibited by RuR in all ten experiments.

Example 7 Cell Type Dependent Apoptosis Induction by Various Stimuli, But not by VDAC1 Overexpression

Cells were incubated with curcumin (120 μM) or As₂O₃ (20 μM) for 48 hrs, or with STS (1.25 μM) for 7 hrs. Cell viability was analyzed by acridine orange/ethidium Bromide staining. In each independent experiment, approximately 250 cells were counted for each treatment, in which early and late apoptotic cells were also counted. The data shown in table 3 is the mean±S.E.M. (n=3).

TABLE 3 Apoptotic cell death, % of control Cell type Control Curcumin As₂O₃ STS B-16 2.20 ± 0.12 37.47 ± 2.20  15.0 ± 1.99 63.12 ± 0.71 HeLa 3.40 ± 1.03  36.2 ± 0.70 24.67 ± 2.65 72.37 ± 1.30 Panc 3.37 ± 0.91 70.77 ± 4.31 67.20 ± 3.87 84.90 ± 2.06 Du-145 3.27 ± 0.70  8.93 ± 0.47  6.0 ± 0.80 13.57 ± 4.73

In contrast to the cell-type dependent effect of the various apoptosis stimuli (Table 3), Table 4 herein below shows that over-expression of native and E72Q variant mVDAC1 induces apoptotic cell death in all cell lines tested.

The following cell types T-Rex-293 (human embryonic kidney), HeLa (human cervical carcinoma), Panc (human pancreas adenocarcinoma), B-16 (mouse skin melanoma), Du-145 (human prostate carcinoma) and PC-12 (rat adrenal pheochromocytoma) were transfected with native or mutated E72Q mVDAC1 (5 μg) by metafectene reagent. Cell viability was analyzed 76 h after transfection by acridine orange/ethidium bromide staining. In each independent experiment, approximately 250 cells including early and late apoptotic cells were counted.

TABLE 4 % Apoptotic cell death pEGFP- pEGFP-E72Q- Cell type Control pEGFP mVDAC1 mVDAC1 T-Rex-293 1.6 3.1 76.9 74.4 HeLa 2.6 2.4 81.1 75.4 Panc 2.7 2.3 84.0 84.7 B-16 3.6 2.9 81.0 76.1 Du-145 2.3 2.3 87.2 83.1 PC-12 3.4 5.1 80.0 77.2

Example 8 Peptide Synthesis

The following VDAC1 peptides were chemically synthesized:

Peptide N (SEQ ID NO:1) is a 26 amino acid peptide which comprises an amino acid sequence derived from the N-terminal cytosolic segment of VDAC1, the peptide comprising amino acids 1-26 of VDAC1:

5′MAVPPTYADLGKSARDVFTKGYGFGL; encoded by Nuc N (SEQ ID NO: 6): 5′ATG GCT GTG CCA CCC ACG TAT GCC GAT CTT GGC AAA TCT GCC AGG GAT GTC TTC ACC AAG GGC TAT GGA TTT GGC TTA

Peptide LP1 (SEQ ID NO:2) is a 15 amino acid peptide comprising an amino acid sequence derived from the first cytosolic β-loop of VDAC1, the peptide comprising amino acids 63-78: 5′ WTEYGLTFTEKWNTD; encoded by Nuc LP1 (SEQ ID NO:7): TGG ACT GAG TAC GGC CTG ACG TTT ACA GAG AAA TGG AAT ACC GAC AAT

Peptide LP2 (SEQ ID NO:3) is a 20 amino acid peptide comprising an amino acid sequence derived from the second cytosolic β-loop of VDAC1, the peptide comprising amino acids 100-119: 5′SSFSPNTGKKNAKIKTGYKR; encoded by Nuc LP2 (SEQ ID NO:8): TCA TCC TTC TCA CCT AAC ACT GGG AAA AAA AAT GCT AAA ATC AAG ACA GGG TAC AAG CGG GAG CAC ATT

Peptide LP3 (SEQ ID NO:4) is an 18 amino acid peptide comprising an amino acid sequence derived from an inter-membranal sequence of VDAC1, the peptide comprising amino acids 157-174: 5′ ETAKSRVTQSNFAVGYKT; encoded by Nuc LP3 (SEQ ID NO:9): GAG ACT GCA AAA TCC CGA GTG ACC CAG AGC AAC TTT GCA GTT GGC TAC AAG ACT. LP3 serves as a negative control.

Peptide LP4 (SEQ ID NO:5) is a 17 amino acid peptide comprising an amino acid sequence of cytosolic β-loop 4 of VDAC1, the peptide comprising amino acids 199-215: 5′KKLETAVNLAWTAGNSN, encoded by Nuc LP4 (SEQ ID NO:10): AAG AAG TTG GAG ACC GCT GTC AAT CTT GCC TGG ACA GCA GGA AAC AGT AAC

The peptides are expressed in pRSET as His6 fusion proteins and are purified using Ni affinity chromatography and, if necessary, HPLC. The effects of these peptides on HK-I binding to isolated mitochondria and on reconstituted VDAC1 channel activity are tested. Similar studies are carried out for Bax, Bcl2, Bcl-xL and tBids to search for peptides that specifically interact with these anti-apoptotic proteins.

FIG. 8 shows alignment of the human VDAC isoforms to the corresponding mouse and rat sequences, for reference only.

Example 9 VDAC1 Peptide Detaches Bound HK-I from Brain Mitochondria

Five VDAC1 peptides were chemically synthesized (Oligonucleotide and Peptide Synthesis Unit, Weizmann Institute). Rat brain mitochondria, known to possess significant amounts of bound HK-I, were used for testing the effects of the VDAC1 peptide on detachment of bound HK-I. As shown in FIG. 9, VDAC1 loop 1 peptide (LP1), containing the E72, was able to release mitochondrial bound HK-I as its activity increased in the supernatant. HK-I. The peptide induced the detachment of mitochondria-bound HK-I, suggesting that a dynamic equilibrium between free and mitochondria-bound HK-I exists.

FIGS. 10A-10B shows that peptide LP1 eliminates the HK-I prevention of PTP opening. Mitochondrial swelling was assayed in the absence (control ●) or the presence of HK-I (gray ●) and in presence HK-I pre-incubated with peptide LP1. Mitochondrial swelling was assayed as in FIG. 2 in the absence and the presence of peptide LP1 (0.1 mM or 0.3 mM), brain HK-I (0.25 U/ml) or with HK-I pre-incubated for 10 min with LP1. Dark circles represents control, light circles are HK-I alone; triangles are HK-I and LP1 (0.1 mM), dark squares are HK-I and LP1 (0.3 mM).

Example 10 Delivery of VDAC Sequences

Several types of delivery systems are being tested for the delivery of the VDAC1 specific peptides, polypeptides and nucleic acids. These delivery systems include: a) Synthetic cell type-specific cell-penetrating VDAC peptides were generated for delivery to cells; b) Non-viral system-mediated gene delivery for delivery and targeting of vectors encoding VDAC peptides and polypeptides; c) Vesicles for polypeptide, peptide and nucleic acid targeting and delivery to target cells.

Cell-penetrating VDAC peptides: The use of peptides as drugs is limited by the peptides inability to cross the cell membrane. A novel carrier system that originates from membrane shuttling proteins such as Antp, the HIV-1 transcriptional factor TAT and VP22 from HSV-1 has advantages for targeted delivery compared with standard translocation techniques. This “transport system” is mediated by the so-called CPPs, (Cell Penetrating Peptides), which consist of short peptide sequences that rapidly translocate large molecules into the cell interior in a seemingly energy- and receptor-independent manner. CPPs have low toxicity and a high yield of delivery.

Most small peptides are flexible in solution and do not adopt the structure that the same sequence adopts in the native protein. Some of the selected VDAC1 peptides, according to VDAC1 topological model (see FIG. 6), exist in the form of β-loops. Therefore, the peptides were designed to contain the amino acids sequence SWTWE at the N-terminus of the peptide and KWTWK at the C-terminus (together the “Trp zipper amino acids”). These sequences can induce the formation of stable β-hairpins by tryptophan-tryptophan cross-strand pairs (TRP zipper) as demonstrated for peptide LP1 in FIG. 7. The following sequences refer to the TRP zipper and or ANTP domain peptides:

Peptide N-ANTP (SEQ ID NO:11) is a 26 amino acid peptide representing the N-terminal segment of VDAC1, further comprising the ANTP domain:

5′MRQIKIWFQNRRMKWKKMAVPPTYADLGKSARDVFTKGYGFGL; encoded by Nuc N-ANTP as set forth in SEQ ID NO: 16: 5′ATGCGTCAGATTAAAATTTGGTTTCAGAATCGTCGTATGAAATGGAAA AAAATGGCTGTGCCACCCACGTATGCCGATCTTGGCAAATCTGCCAGGGA TGTCTTCACCAAGGGCTATGGATTTGGCTTATGA

Peptide LP1-trp (SEQ ID NO:12) is a 42 amino acid peptide comprising an amino acid sequence derived from the first cytosolic loop of VDAC1, amino acids 63-78, further comprising Trp zipper amino acids and the ANTP domain:

5′MRQIKIWFQNRRMKWKKSWTWEWTEYGLTFTEKWNTDKWTWK; encoded by Nuc LP1-trp as set forth in SEQ ID NO: 17: 5′ATGCGTCAGATTAAAATTTGGTTTCAGAATCGTCGTATGAAATGGAAA AAATCCTGGACCTGGGAATGGACTGAGTACGGCCTGACGTTTACAGAGAA A TGGAATACCGACAATAAATGGACCTGGAAATGA

Peptide LP2-trp (SEQ ID NO:13) is a 47 amino acid peptide comprising an amino acid sequence derived from the second cytosolic loop of VDAC1, amino acids 100-119, further comprising Trp zipper amino acids and the ANTP domain:

5′MRQIKIWFQNRRMKWKKSWTWESSFSPNTGKKNAKIKTGYKRKWTWK; encoded by Nuc LP2-trp as set forth in SEQ ID NO: 18): 5′ATGCGTCAGATTAAAATTTGGTTTCAGAATCGTCGTATGAAATGGAAA AAATCCTGGACCTGGGAATCATCCTTCTCACCTAACACTGGGAAAAAAAA TGCTAAAATCAAGACAGGGTACAAGCGGGAGCACATTAAATGGACCTGGA AATGA

Peptide LP3-trp (SEQ ID NO:14) is an 45 amino acid peptide comprising an amino acid sequence derived from the inter-membranal β-loop (loop 3) of VDAC1, amino acids 157-174, further comprising Trp zipper amino acids and the ANTP domain:

5′MRQIKIWFQNRRMKWKKSWTWEETAKSRVTQSNFAVGYKTKWTWK; encoded by Nuc LP3-trp as set forth in SEQ ID NO: 19: 5′ATGCGTCAGATTAAAATTTGGTTTCAGAATCGTCGTATGAAATGGAAA AAATCCTGGACCTGGGAAGAGACTGCAAAATCCCGAGTGACCCAGAGCAA CTTTGCAGTTGGCTACAAGACTAAATGGACCTGGAAATGA

Peptide LP4-trp (SEQ ID NO:15) is a 44 amino acid peptide comprising an amino acid sequence derived from the fourth β-loop (cytosolic) of VDAC 1, amino acids 199-215, further comprising Trp zipper amino acids and the ANTP domain:

5′MRQIKIWFQNRRMKWKKSWTWEKKLETAVNLAWTAGNSNKWTWK, encoded by Nuc LP4-trp as set forth in SEQ ID NO: 20: 5′ATGCGTCAGATTAAAATTTGGTTTCAGAATCGTCGTATGAAATGGAAA AAATCCTGGACCTGGGAAAAGAAGTTGGAGACCGCTGTCAATCTTGCCTG GACAGCAGGAAACAGTAACAAATGGACCTGGAAATGA

To facilitate the translocation of the peptides across the cell membrane, the sequence peptide was linked to the C terminus of the cell penetrating peptide (CPP) derived from the Drosophila homeobox protein Antennapedia (Antp). By using available antibodies against Antp, the expression/penetration of the peptide in the cell can be followed.

Thus, by linking VDAC peptide sequences, for example VDAC1 peptide sequences to a CPP, as depicted in FIG. 7, the peptides are introduced into the cell. Without wishing to be bound to theory, the peptide alters the existing VDAC1-HK-I and/or VDAC1-Bcl2 interactions and thereby reduces their anti-apoptotic activity. Control cells and HK-I or Bcl2 over-expressing B-16 cells are incubated without and with different concentrations of VDAC peptides or Antp-VDAC peptides, and apoptosis induced by staurosporine and other reagents is monitored. The peptides with the highest activity in preventing the HK-I or Bcl2 anti-apoptotic activity are further tested in cancer cell lines, including prostate, breast, lung, kidney, neuroblastoma, leukemia, glioblastoma cell lines.

Non-Viral Peptide Delivery: Another tool for delivery and targeting VDAC peptides is the use of “shielding particles”. The particle surface of these delivery particles can be coated with hydrophilic polymers, e.g. polyethylene glycol (PEG), which prevent binding to, for example, plasma proteins and blood cells and also enable prolonged circulation time in the bloodstream (Oupicky et al., 2002) To provide vectors with the ability to distinguish between target and non-target tissue, cell-binding ligands that recognize target-specific cellular receptors can be added to the particle. Numerous cell-targeting ligands, including peptides, growth factors, antibodies or other proteins, are incorporated into polyplexes (Wagner, et al, 2005) after chemical conjugation to cationic polymers (Schatzlein, 2003). Thus, tailor-made synthetic vectors can be used to achieve targeting to tumor tissue. Therapeutic concepts based, for example, on suicide genes or cytokines, showed encouraging results in preclinical and also in first clinical evaluations. The aim of this proposal is to use a novel targeted gene transfer systems based on DNA/ligand-polycation complexes with tumor targeting ligands to deliver VDAC peptides and derivatives and analogs thereof to cancer cells.

Delivery Vesicles: The delivery vesicles are preferably designed to prevent binding of the VDAC1 peptide and derivatives and analogs thereof to plasma proteins or to blood cells and will enable a prolonged circulatory time in the blood stream. To provide vectors with the ability to distinguish between target and non-target tissue, cell-binding ligands that recognize target-specific cellular receptors are introduced. For tumor specific targeting, receptor-targeted polyplexes based on PEI and using transferrin (Tf), epidermal growth factor (EGF) or other ligand for targeting. Depending on the cell type, part of the PEI polymer in the complex is replaced by ligand-PEI conjugate (for example, Tf-PEI or EGF-PEI). All formulations contain PEG-PEI conjugate for shielding purposes.

Example 11 Formulation and Stabilization of Peptide Drugs

Pharmaceutical macromolecules may be damaged during bio-processing and storage; thus, analytical tools are needed for the stage of formulation development and stabilization of peptides. Strategies for solubility optimization, storage, the use of stabilizing agents and stability-indicating assays are developed for the VDAC peptides.

Moreover, certain peptides, when introduced to the cell interior, are rapidly degraded, and thus the effect of the peptide might not be as long lasting as desired. To make the peptides more effective drugs, the preparation of peptide analogs, including peptide derivatives and peptidomimetics, having increased stability, including protection against proteolysis, is required. Peptide analogs containing for example N (alpha)-methylamino acids are increasingly recognised as potentially useful therapeutics (Jarver and Langel, 2004).

In addition, the use of an analog of the VDAC effective peptides comprising some or all D-amino acids fused to a D-configured amino acid analog of the Antp are constructed and tested.

Liposomes containing lipid-linked maleinimide is generated by standard loading technique with VDAC1-derived peptides (Derycke and Witte, 2002). Following separation of peptide loaded liposomes from free peptide by size exclusion chromatography, transferrin is modified with hetero-bifunctional cross linker introducing a free thiol group into the transferrin molecule. Covalent coupling to the liposome surface is carried out by reaction of the thiol group with maleinimide residues on the liposome surface.

Example 12 Pro-Apoptotic Activity of VDAC1 Peptide Fragments in Cancer Cells

The effect of VDAC1 peptides in minimizing the self-defense mechanisms of cancer cells, which involve over-expression of anti-apoptotic proteins such as HK-I, are tested in several cancer cell lines, among them recombinant HK-I over-expressing cells. The ability to increase the efficacy of chemotherapeutic drugs by VDAC-based peptides is a step toward developing practical therapies to minimize the self-defense mechanisms of cancer cells involving over-expression of anti-apoptotic proteins such as HK-I.

In a non-limiting example, peptides are introduced into cells by one of at least three ways:

Cells are transfected with mammalian expression vector encoding a VDAC peptide or peptide analog.

VDAC1 polypeptides or peptides fused to penetrating peptides are added to the cells. Alternatively, VDAC1 polypeptide or peptide packed in shield particles containing targeting ligand are added to the cells.

Cell viability and apoptotic cell death of control, HK-I and peptide containing cells is followed by staining cells with acridine orange (AcOr) and ethidium bromide (EtBr) and by Flow Cytometry (FACS) analysis. The expression levels of HK-I, HK-II, Bcl2, Bcl-xL and Bax in these cells are estimated using antibodies specific to each protein. In addition, the level of VDAC peptide in the cells is analyzed using anti-Antp antibodies (anti-HK antibodies from Santa Cruz; anti-VDAC antibodies from Calbiochem; anti-ANTP antibodies from GentTex Inc.)

Example 13 Pro-Apoptotic Activity of VDAC Peptides in Animal Models

Imaging and follow up of synthetic VDAC peptides in vivo by non-invasive measurement of apoptosis and monitoring of glucose metabolism, with positron emission tomography (PET) and ¹⁸fluorodeoxyglucose, respectively are essential components of a study of this nature. Thus, in vitro and in vivo studies with the most effective VDAC peptides are carried out. Stability of the peptides is evaluated in vivo in this study by utilizing scintographic imaging and HPLC serum.

First, to evaluate their uptake kinetics, the peptides or peptide analogs are labeled with ¹³¹I and bio-distribution of the labeled peptides is determined in tumor-bearing animals. Complementary animal models are performed including different subcutaneous tumor models, either in immune competent mice (e.g. neuroblastoma in A/J, melanoma in C57/BL6, CT26 in Balb/c) or SCID mice (hepatoma and others).

Example 14 VDAC Peptides Enhance Sensitivity of Cancer Cells to Chemotherapy

The molecular events responsible for chemotherapy resistance of cancer cells remain largely unknown. Pro-survival members of the Bcl-2 family are expressed in many tumors and are associated with the repression of apoptosis induced by chemotherapeutic drugs in vitro. Since the anti-apoptotic Bcl-2 proteins are thought to act via interaction with VDAC, the effect of VDAC-based peptides on Bcl2 over-expressing cells to sensitivity to chemotherapy is studied.

The Bcl-2 protein is produced at high levels in many types of cancer, including about 90% of colorectal, 30-60% of prostate, 70% of breast, 20% of non-small cell lung cancers, and 65% of lymphomas. The in vivo, expression of Bcl-2 has been associated with a poor response to therapy in certain subgroups of cancer patients, including some patients with lymphoma, acute leukemia, and prostate cancer.

Example 15 Pro-Apoptotic Activity of VDAC Peptides in Apoptosis-Defective and Chemotherapy-Resistant Cancer Cell Models

To test the effect of the VDAC-based peptides in apoptosis-defective and chemotherapy-resistant cancer cells, an apoptosis-resistance model is used. For example, the non-small cell lung carcinoma (NSCLC) cell lines exhibit an intrinsic resistance to chemo- and radiotherapy, are used to study the mechanisms of apoptosis resistance and to find ways of overcoming this resistance with the VDAC peptides and analogs thereof.

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Citation of any document herein is not intended as an admission that such document is pertinent prior art, or considered material to the patentability of any claim of the present application. 

The invention claimed is:
 1. An isolated Voltage-dependent anion channel 1 (VDAC1) derived peptide of up to 70 amino acids capable of inducing apoptosis in a cell, wherein the VDAC1 derived peptide comprises the amino acid sequence set forth in SEQ ID NO:5.
 2. The VDAC1 derived peptide according to claim 1, wherein said peptide induces apoptosis by enhancing sensitivity to an apoptosis-inducing reagent.
 3. The VDAC1 derived peptide according to claim 1, wherein said peptide comprises 17 to 30 amino acid residues.
 4. The VDAC1 derived peptide according to claim 3, said peptide consisting of SEQ ID NO:5.
 5. A pharmaceutical composition comprising the VDAC1 derived peptide of claim 1 and a pharmaceutically acceptable carrier or excipient.
 6. The pharmaceutical composition according to claim 5, comprising a VDAC1 derived peptide having the amino acid sequence set forth in SEQ ID NO:15.
 7. A method of treating a subject suffering from a lymphoproliferative disease associated with aberrant apoptosis comprising administering to said subject the pharmaceutical composition according to claim
 5. 8. The method according to claim 7, wherein the pharmaceutical composition comprises a VDAC1 derived peptide having the amino acid sequence set forth in SEQ ID NO:15.
 9. The VDAC1 derived peptide according to claim 1, wherein the amino acid sequence set forth in SEQ ID NO:5 is flanked by tryptophan zipper amino acids.
 10. The VDAC1 derived peptide according to claim 9, further comprising a cell penetrating peptide.
 11. The VDAC1 derived peptide according to claim 9, wherein said peptide comprises the amino acid sequence set forth in SEQ ID NO:15.
 12. The VDAC1 derived peptide according to claim 10, wherein said peptide consists of SEQ ID NO:
 15. 